Echoes from Cañon
Examples of Excellence
Fremont County Commissioner Debbie Bell, local businessmen Brian Konty and Shad Johnson, and Cañon City Mayor Preston Troutman share their experience with Cañon City High School social studies students.
Local entrepreneurs Dan Brown, Janice Zeiler, Kathleen Shoemaker and Larry Oddo share their experience with Cañon City High School Business students.
Last week eight local business and civic leaders gave generously of their time to engage with Cañon City High School students by serving on Junior Achievement panels. Dan Brown, Janice Zeiler, Kathleen Shoemaker, Larry Oddo, Debbie Bell, Preston Troutman, Brian Konty, and Shad Johnson addressed CCHS business and social studies students, sharing their knowledge and expertise in their chosen fields. As a result, kids were able to hear firsthand the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and public officials, why they chose the work in, and what is most rewarding about that work. Junior Achievement is an outstanding program that recruits community volunteers to do this kind of work. Thanks to a contribution from the Cañon City government last year, we have been able to expand this program to many instructional levels.
Congratulations are due to the Fremont Regional Wellness Council for an award received earlier this year for coordination of the local Weigh and Win program. Weigh and Win offers RE-1, RE-2, and RE-3 staff the opportunity to work together in teams to develop better dietary and exercise habits. The hard work of program coordinators Kristi Elliott, Sarah Ley, and Shari Fontenot was recognized by Kaiser Permanente by the award of the 2017 Kaiser Permanente Outstanding Partner in Health. It is truly wonderful to work in an organization that supports the health and wellness of employees at such a high level.
Kudos also go to Cañon City Middle School this week as an analysis of first quarter behavior incidents over the past three years shows incredible improvement in student behavior. This week Dean of Students Jesse Oliver communicated these results to his staff:
2015-2016 school year in 1st quarter referrals: 78 involving 70 students
2016-2017 school year in 1st quarter referrals: 47 involving 40 students
2017-2018 school year in 1st quarter referrals: 28 involving 20 students
This is outstanding, especially considering there are about 40 more kids on campus in 2017 than there were in 2015. Mr. Oliver also did a grade level analysis that showed the following:
-This year’s 8th graders were referred 41 times when they were 6th graders, 15 times as 7th graders and only 13 as 8th graders
-This year’s 7th graders were referred 21 times when they were 6th graders, and only 9 times as 7th graders.
-This year’s 6th graders were only referred 8 times.
Great job CCMS! Keep S.O.A.R.-ing to success, Falcons!
Congratulations are due to the Fremont Regional Wellness Council for an award received earlier this year for coordination of the local Weigh and Win program. Weigh and Win offers RE-1, RE-2, and RE-3 staff the opportunity to work together in teams to develop better dietary and exercise habits. The hard work of program coordinators Kristi Elliott, Sarah Ley, and Shari Fontenot was recognized by Kaiser Permanente by the award of the 2017 Kaiser Permanente Outstanding Partner in Health. It is truly wonderful to work in an organization that supports the health and wellness of employees at such a high level.
Kudos also go to Cañon City Middle School this week as an analysis of first quarter behavior incidents over the past three years shows incredible improvement in student behavior. This week Dean of Students Jesse Oliver communicated these results to his staff:
2015-2016 school year in 1st quarter referrals: 78 involving 70 students
2016-2017 school year in 1st quarter referrals: 47 involving 40 students
2017-2018 school year in 1st quarter referrals: 28 involving 20 students
This is outstanding, especially considering there are about 40 more kids on campus in 2017 than there were in 2015. Mr. Oliver also did a grade level analysis that showed the following:
-This year’s 8th graders were referred 41 times when they were 6th graders, 15 times as 7th graders and only 13 as 8th graders
-This year’s 7th graders were referred 21 times when they were 6th graders, and only 9 times as 7th graders.
-This year’s 6th graders were only referred 8 times.
Great job CCMS! Keep S.O.A.R.-ing to success, Falcons!
The Focus of Our Work
Kristi Elliott, Sarah Ley, and Shari Fontenot were recognized by Kaiser Permanente with the 2017 Kaiser Permanente Outstanding Partner in Health award.
I recently submitted a series of four articles to local news media to factually explain the questions Cañon City Schools has placed on this year’s ballot. For purposes of this publication I have condensed these down to two articles, the first of which I am publishing this week.
The Cañon City School District Board of Education has placed two questions on this November’s ballot, a mill levy override, and a bond. These appear as questions 3A and 3B. All registered voters residing within the Cañon City School District can chime in on these measures.
3A is an override. Approval will provide the district an additional $1.385 million-per-year in operating revenue over and above annual per-pupil formula funding for the next 10 years. This will bring the district in line with state average funding. Right now, Cañon City Schools only receives 95% of state average funding.
These dollars can only be used for updating curriculum resources, aligning compensation to attract and retain high-quality employees, improving the safety/security/and maintenance of buildings, purchasing instructional technology, and enhancing learning opportunities for preschoolers.
Question 3B is a bond. Thanks to Colorado’s Building Excellent Schools Today program, and legalized marijuana excise tax collections, approval of this will allow Cañon City to access marijuana tax dollars by investing $18.2 million to provide $51.9 million in building improvements. This is almost a 70% discount, nearly a 200% instant return on investment. This will allow us to make building envelope and safety upgrades to Cañon City High School, Cañon Exploratory School, Harrison K-8, Lincoln School of Science and Technology, and McKinley Elementary, pay off the Mountain View Core Knowledge Charter School facility loan and build brand new Washington Elementary and Cañon City Middle School facilities.
Why is the district asking for additional revenue? Colorado schools receive funding through a strict finance formula combining local property tax collections with state and federal sources. These dollars are intended to instruct students by paying staff, purchasing resources, operating buildings, and transporting children. Funds are set aside each year to address pressing maintenance needs such as patching roofs, replacing furniture and carpet, painting walls, and maintaining heating and cooling systems. In fiscal year 2011, the Great Recession caused a $3.5 million per year reduction in Cañon City School District’s revenues. Salaries were frozen, reductions in workforce were implemented, technology upgrades were postponed, and significant building maintenance efforts had to be deferred. Though we have received inflationary increases in funding since then, the district has never closed that $3.5 million per year funding gap. The district has operated for the past 7 years on only 6 years of funding.
The Cañon City School District Board of Education has placed two questions on this November’s ballot, a mill levy override, and a bond. These appear as questions 3A and 3B. All registered voters residing within the Cañon City School District can chime in on these measures.
3A is an override. Approval will provide the district an additional $1.385 million-per-year in operating revenue over and above annual per-pupil formula funding for the next 10 years. This will bring the district in line with state average funding. Right now, Cañon City Schools only receives 95% of state average funding.
These dollars can only be used for updating curriculum resources, aligning compensation to attract and retain high-quality employees, improving the safety/security/and maintenance of buildings, purchasing instructional technology, and enhancing learning opportunities for preschoolers.
Question 3B is a bond. Thanks to Colorado’s Building Excellent Schools Today program, and legalized marijuana excise tax collections, approval of this will allow Cañon City to access marijuana tax dollars by investing $18.2 million to provide $51.9 million in building improvements. This is almost a 70% discount, nearly a 200% instant return on investment. This will allow us to make building envelope and safety upgrades to Cañon City High School, Cañon Exploratory School, Harrison K-8, Lincoln School of Science and Technology, and McKinley Elementary, pay off the Mountain View Core Knowledge Charter School facility loan and build brand new Washington Elementary and Cañon City Middle School facilities.
Why is the district asking for additional revenue? Colorado schools receive funding through a strict finance formula combining local property tax collections with state and federal sources. These dollars are intended to instruct students by paying staff, purchasing resources, operating buildings, and transporting children. Funds are set aside each year to address pressing maintenance needs such as patching roofs, replacing furniture and carpet, painting walls, and maintaining heating and cooling systems. In fiscal year 2011, the Great Recession caused a $3.5 million per year reduction in Cañon City School District’s revenues. Salaries were frozen, reductions in workforce were implemented, technology upgrades were postponed, and significant building maintenance efforts had to be deferred. Though we have received inflationary increases in funding since then, the district has never closed that $3.5 million per year funding gap. The district has operated for the past 7 years on only 6 years of funding.
This is an architect's rendering of how the new Cañon City Middle School commons area might appear.
Why are these construction projects even needed?
A structural engineering study conducted at Washington Elementary in spring 2016 indicated foundation heaving, joist creep, and walls out of plumb. The report recommends we address this by 2021 to ensure continued safety of students and staff. The structural repair costs are not significant. However, such work would require us to make expensive improvements to bring the building up to code. This led the Board of Education to conclude building a new school would be a better investment for taxpayers. We were faced with the question, “should the district spend $6 million dollars to repair Washington Elementary to bring it up to code leaving us with a 70-year-old building, or would it be more prudent to build a new school by accessing the Building Excellent Schools Today grant program?” Building a new school means our $6 million investment will net the community an $18 million replacement school.
Cañon City Middle School is more structurally sound than Washington. However, asbestos-laden plaster, antiquated electrical and mechanical systems, inadequate ADA access, outdated instructional spaces, structural deterioration, and high costs per square foot for a major remodel led the board to conclude building a new middle school would also be a better investment for taxpayers.
For a year, we sought ways to repurpose the 1925 portion of CCMS. Each interested party backed out once they learned it would cost $12 million to bring the building up to code. An architectural study conducted in July 2017 also revealed costly structural improvements would have to be made if a major building remodel took place. Thus, the question the board was faced with regarding CCMS was, “should we spend $12 million dollars to repair Cañon City Middle School to bring it up to code, or would it be better to build a new school by accessing the Building Excellent Schools Today grant program?” Building a new school means we would only have to pay $8 million to build a $24 million replacement facility, almost a 70% discount.
The board recognizes the community’s historic attachment to the current CCMS facility. Because of this, estimates for new construction include repurposing many of the current building’s unique architectural features. Also, every effort will be made inside the new facility to honor the history and heritage of the structure that once stood there.
Passage of 3A will cost a homeowner with $100,000 of market value $3.58 per month for 10 years. Passage of 3B will cost the same homeowner $3.75 per month for 20 years. The Senior Property Tax Homestead Exemption allows homeowners aged 65 or older who have lived in their residence for at least 10 years to pay only half this tax increase up to the first $200,000 in market value. This exemption must be approved by the legislature on an annual basis, and taxpayers must apply for it at the County Assessor’s Office.
A structural engineering study conducted at Washington Elementary in spring 2016 indicated foundation heaving, joist creep, and walls out of plumb. The report recommends we address this by 2021 to ensure continued safety of students and staff. The structural repair costs are not significant. However, such work would require us to make expensive improvements to bring the building up to code. This led the Board of Education to conclude building a new school would be a better investment for taxpayers. We were faced with the question, “should the district spend $6 million dollars to repair Washington Elementary to bring it up to code leaving us with a 70-year-old building, or would it be more prudent to build a new school by accessing the Building Excellent Schools Today grant program?” Building a new school means our $6 million investment will net the community an $18 million replacement school.
Cañon City Middle School is more structurally sound than Washington. However, asbestos-laden plaster, antiquated electrical and mechanical systems, inadequate ADA access, outdated instructional spaces, structural deterioration, and high costs per square foot for a major remodel led the board to conclude building a new middle school would also be a better investment for taxpayers.
For a year, we sought ways to repurpose the 1925 portion of CCMS. Each interested party backed out once they learned it would cost $12 million to bring the building up to code. An architectural study conducted in July 2017 also revealed costly structural improvements would have to be made if a major building remodel took place. Thus, the question the board was faced with regarding CCMS was, “should we spend $12 million dollars to repair Cañon City Middle School to bring it up to code, or would it be better to build a new school by accessing the Building Excellent Schools Today grant program?” Building a new school means we would only have to pay $8 million to build a $24 million replacement facility, almost a 70% discount.
The board recognizes the community’s historic attachment to the current CCMS facility. Because of this, estimates for new construction include repurposing many of the current building’s unique architectural features. Also, every effort will be made inside the new facility to honor the history and heritage of the structure that once stood there.
Passage of 3A will cost a homeowner with $100,000 of market value $3.58 per month for 10 years. Passage of 3B will cost the same homeowner $3.75 per month for 20 years. The Senior Property Tax Homestead Exemption allows homeowners aged 65 or older who have lived in their residence for at least 10 years to pay only half this tax increase up to the first $200,000 in market value. This exemption must be approved by the legislature on an annual basis, and taxpayers must apply for it at the County Assessor’s Office.
Last Week
Last week I had a board work session and regular meeting on Monday, an Instructional Leader Professional Learning Community session on Tuesday, an Early Childhood Leadership Commission meeting and a Cañon 2020 meeting on Thursday, and a Friday meeting with folks from GE Johnson to touch base about possible next steps in selecting a builder and architect should our question 3B be approved by voters. I also attended a problem-solving session with Cañon City Education Association leaders regarding elementary teacher plan time on Wednesday. Good progress was made at that gathering.
This Week
On Monday, along with Cañon City High School Principal Bill Summers, I have the honor of being a keynote presenter at the Colorado Department of Education Graduation Guidelines Summit in Thornton. We’ll be sharing how Cañon City High School is converting into a career pathways school, while also meeting updated Colorado graduation requirements. On Monday afternoon, I’ll head over to Parker to cheer on the top seeded Tiger Pride Marching Band as they perform in the state marching competition. I’ll remain in the Denver area on Tuesday morning to attend a Colorado Safe Schools Resource Center subcommittee work session on how best to notify parents when tragedy strikes a school. On Wednesday, Director of Finance Buddy Lambrecht, Director of Instruction Adam Hartman, and I will meet to allocate the Title VB Dollars we were just awarded. Though the dollars are greatly appreciated, this year’s allocation is a bit below what we have received in the past. During the remainder of the week I’ll attend a central office staff meeting, an operations staff meeting, a student expulsion hearing, a CCEA leader touching base meeting, and I’ll make a Friday appearance on KRLN’s Morning Line.
Thanks for listening once again!
George S. Welsh
Thanks for listening once again!
George S. Welsh
