• Budget timeline
• District leaders take salary reductions
• District transparency applauded
• Jeffco board renews charter school applications
• Winner of Superintendent of the Year announced next week
• Want the latest information about Jeffco?
• Board of Education Meetings
• Archive of past issues

Casey Malone
USA Track and Field
6th Place Discus, 2004 Olympics
Arvada West High School Alumnus

The Bright Stars program recognizes JeffcoPublic Schools' graduates who have gone on to distinguished careers or have accomplished a significant achievement. If you have a Bright Star you would like to nominate, please e-mail Communications Services.

Budget timeline

To help our Key Communicators stay up-to-date on the district’s budget process, here is a timeline of what has happened so far, and what will happen in the next few months.  The district needs to find $18-$20 million per year in budgetary savings over the next few years.  (If the district doesn’t use money in reserves, that dollar figure will be close to $50 million.)

The budget process has involved more than 177 budget committees (made up of community members and staff) both in schools and district-based. Here is a brief summary of the process:

• School-based budget workgroups (made up of parents and staff) met in December and weighed in on a list of proposed reductions for their particular school.  District departments did the same.  Groups also shared their values from the district-wide perspective.
• That information then flowed to budget workgroups (made up of staff and community).  Those groups considered the input from school and department budget committees and developed reduction recommendations.
• The district budget advisory committee (community and staff) took the work from there and consolidated, prioritized the reductions and provided value statements on district-wide savings.
• In February, district cabinet (district leadership team) will review and adjust the recommendations from the district budget advisory committee.
• The district stakeholders (a large group made up of community, parents and staff) will meet Feb. 23 for a high-level overview of the budget challenges, proposed reductions and general assumptions currently included in the development of the 2010-11 budget.
• In the spring, members of the Jefferson County Board of Education will review the input from all of the groups and finalize the budget.  A balanced budget must be adopted by June 30.

For a more detailed look at the budget, please visit the district Web site at: http://www.jeffcopublicschools.org/finance/index.html

There you will find the list of proposed reductions initiated by the budget workgroups and enhanced by the district budget advisory committee and other helpful information.

What questions do you have about Jeffco's budget?

District leaders take salary reductions

What other steps can Jeffco take to address the budget shortfall?

District transparency applauded

Check out Jeffco’s user-friendly transparency Web site.  It details the district’s spending information in a searchable data base.  Recently, the Education Policy Center applauded Jeffco Schools for “establishing itself as a financial transparency leader with the creation and launch of its online searchable database.”

Education Policy Analyst Ben DeGrow stated that "With Jeffco leading the way, here's hoping more Coloado school districs not only get on board the financial transparency train, but also do so in a way that is effective, user-friendly, detailed and truly builds trust with local citizens."

Visit Jeffco's Financial Transparency Web site.

Jeffco board renews charter school applications

The Jefferson County Board of Education renewed four charter school applications last night at the regular board meeting for another five years, pending the outcome of successful contract negotiations. The four charter schools renewed were:

Free Horizon Montessori, Rocky Mountain Deaf School, Montessori Peaks Academy and Lincoln Academy.

Winner of Superintendent of the Year announced next week

The American Association of School Administrators (AASA) will announce the 2010 National Superintendent of the Year at its annual conference next week in Phoenix. Jeffco Superintendent, Dr. Cindy Stevenson is one of four finalists in the running for the 2010 AASA National Superintendent of Year Award.  She was named the 2010 Colorado Superintendent of the Year by CASE, the Colorado Association of School Executives.

Want the latest information on Jeffco Schools?

For the latest information about Jeffco Schools visit our Web site at www.jeffcopublicschools.org or follow us on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

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Upcoming Board of Education meetings

The Board of Education holds study/dialogue sessions (Seminar Room, 4th floor) and business meetings (Board Room, 5th floor) at the Educational Services Center, 1829 Denver West Drive, Bldg #27, Golden, unless otherwise noted.