Management Items

January 6, 2004 Management Items Cabinet Report Following is a regular report about major issues and information discussed during the weekly Cabinet meetings. The Cabinet includes three principal representatives, all nine area and assistant area superintendents, other assistant superintendents and several department heads. Please contact your Cabinet representative with questions.

Major Issues  Review of Board agenda for January 8 meeting. The major business item is authorizing the $310.8 million bond sale. The sale is being conducted Wednesday, January 7 but is not final until approved by the Board. Under new business, district staff will outline plans for expanding Early Childhood Education and kindergarten slots as approved by voters in November as one of the mill levy initiatives.  Memo coming soon from Superintendent Wartgow about restrictions on spending for the balance of the current budget year.  The process for selecting principals to fill vacancies will be detailed soon. Superintendent Wartgow strongly urged all employees to serve as recruiters in order to assemble the most talented pool of applicants possible.

Information  District staff is gathering an inventory of principals who serve on standing and ad hoc committees.  Friday, March 19 is set as the date of a vote by Denver Classroom Teachers Association members on the proposed new Teacher Compensation Plan.  New TV show – “DPS Today” – will debut on Channel 8 (Denver cable) beginning Thursday, January 15. Air times are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 8 a.m. and Friday and Saturday at 8:30 p.m. More details soon.

Upcoming Emergency Management Training DPS recently won a coveted half-million dollar grant from the US Department of Education to extensively train school staff, students and parents in emergency response procedures. After updates to emergency response and crisis plans are completed, DPS will provide a total of three days of required training to Leadership Teams from each school. Leadership Teams will include the principal, a support staff person, school secretary, facility manager, parent, student (as appropriate) and assistant principal (at high school levels). To accommodate Leadership Teams from over 160 schools, multiple trainings will be offered. Some training will be held during the school year, with others being offered on weekends or during the 2004 summer break. Principals and staff who attend training on non-work days will be paid for attending.

Currently, we are conducting a comprehensive review of school safety plans to identify areas for improvement. All crisis plans and district resources will be updated, simplified and consolidated in a user-friendly manual. Along with area superintendents, key DPS departments are supporting this initiative. If you would like to give input, contact Dr. Christopher Saiz, project director, at 303-764-3610 or at [email protected]. Watch for more information this spring.

School Closures Due To Bad Weather Please remind your employees that if Denver Public Schools is closed due to bad weather or other emergencies, each employee should seek out district closure status. The central district phone center message will be updated daily by 5 a.m. The phone number is 303-764-3200. If employees are unsure about closure status, they should call the phone center message or log onto the district website at www.dpsk12.org. Employees should not rely on media notification alone.

Ritchie Program For School Leaders Thinking about becoming a principal? The University of Denver and DPS announce the Ritchie Program for School Leaders, an innovative partnership to prepare school leaders for urban schools. An informational meeting will be held from 4:30-5:30 p.m. Wednesday, January 21 at the Career Education Center, Room 212, 2650 Eliot St. (Eliot at W. 26th Ave.). The program begins with a week-long mountain retreat in August 2004 and ends in June 2005. Applications are being accepted until Friday, February 6.

This highly selective program offers:  A Ritchie Fellow the opportunity to complete an internship while working full-time in a non- classroom job  The credentials you’ll need to qualify for a principal’s license  Release time on Thursday afternoons to attend seminars and classes  Discounted DU graduate tuition  Project-based, action oriented learning with excellent faculty

For more information and application materials, call 303-871-2494, visit www.du.edu/education, or e-mail [email protected]. You can also contact Maureen Sanders at 303-764-3764, Room 711, 900 Grant St., for further information. Professional Development and Training DPS Office Professionals—On the Frontline January 27 Back by popular demand for one day only is “On the Frontline” training for DPS office professionals. Seating is limited. Register your office staff now for a free half-day morning or afternoon customer service workshop on Tuesday, January 27 at the Ritchie Center. Registration information is attached. Schools and departments can register staff for alternate workshops to maintain office coverage. Topics will include the office professional’s role in school and district image-building, communication skills, customer service, telephone tips, and dealing with

2 difficult people. Thanks for your support of the DPS priority to improve the performance of the district through a responsive, customer-oriented and user-friendly organizational culture.

Everyday Mathematics Workshops Principals – Please tell your ECE through fifth-grade teachers who use Everyday Mathematics about this professional development opportunity on Saturday, January 24. See the flyer posted at this address – http://curriculum.dpsk12.org/math/em_1-24-04.pdf – for more information. For Your Information 2004 DPS Enrollment Guide Friday, January 30 is the first Choice enrollment deadline for the 2004-2005 school year. The Choice process is outlined in DPS Today, the district’s 2004 enrollment guide. Copies are on their way to schools. Also enclosed will be a copy of the CD Rom version, which contains additional useful information about the district. The printed versions are yours to distribute to parents and community members. The CD is in much more limited supply, but please let us know if you need a few extra copies. Contact the Public Information Office at [email protected] or 303-764-3414.

Joint Taskforce On Teacher Compensation The Community Training and Assistance Center (CTAC) will present its study of the DPS- DCTA Pay for Performance Pilot to a joint meeting of the Board of Education and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association Board of Directors on at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, January 7 at the Sheraton Four Points Hotel, 1475 S. Colorado Blvd.. The meeting is open to the public.

The Executive Summary, a news release and access to the full report will be available January 7 at the website http://denverteachercompensation.org. The CTAC report concludes a four-year study that examined the relationship of teacher compensation to student achievement. The pilot and CTAC study have guided the work of the Joint Task Force on Teacher Compensation, which is using the objective-setting process developed by the pilot as the primary means of rewarding teachers for student growth. The task force also created a draft compensation system based on three major components in addition to student growth.

School Bus Accidents As of July 1, 2003, the no-fault auto liability system has been replaced with the tort system and there is no provision for Personal Injury Protection coverage (PIP) under Colorado law. This has changed the way that claims are handled when students are injured in a school bus accident. Because of this legislative change, if a student is injured in a bus accident, the student’s family medical or accident insurance will be the primary coverage for the treatment. The Insurance Pool has voluntarily added an Auto Medical Payments provision to the automobile liability insurance coverage. This Pool coverage applies on an excess or secondary basis unless the student’s family does not have any medical and/or accident coverage.

As quickly as the insurance Pool gets the name and address of an injured student, they will forward an application for Auto Medical Payments coverage. The family must complete this form and return it to the Pool. Along with this application will be paperwork instructing the family that they need to submit the bills to the Pool along with an explanation of the medical treatment received. Treatment must be with a qualified medical doctor. The Auto Medical

3 Payments coverage will reimburse the family for qualifying out-of- pocket medical expenses up to the limit of coverage.

If the district's driver is not at fault in the accident, then the families of the injured students must file a claim with the insurance company of the at fault driver. In the event that the district's driver is at fault, then the family of each injured student must file a liability claim with the Pool for damages, if any, beyond Auto Medical Payments coverage.

AAA College Scholarships AAA is hosting its second annual national geography/travel “challenge” for high school kids. Up for grabs is $156,000 in college scholarships. The first step is an online test that any Colorado high school student can take between Monday, January 12 and Wednesday, January 21. The top five Colorado students then take a proctored written test in March. The top Colorado student receives a $1,000 scholarship and goes to Orlando, Fla., to compete with all state champions in April. Each winner of the national competition receives a $25,000 college scholarship. There are no strings attached. Students do not have to be members of AAA and nothing is being sold to any of the participants. For more information about the contest, access www.aaa.com/travelchallenge or call 303-753-8800 ext. 8006.

TUESDAY TELEGRAM — Click on this link to access past issues: http://www.dpsk12.org/docs/tuesday_telegram/

4 (BACK to DPS Office Professionals—On the Frontline) DPS Office Professionals

If you missed this workshop in the fall… 8:30−11:30 a.m. OR 12:30−3:30 p.m. Tuesday, January 27 at the Ritchie Center

As an office professional, you are ‘On the Frontline.’ Denver Public Schools values what you do. You’re invited to attend this workshop to learn and practice skills that will help you with your important role! This hands-on workshop will include scenarios and role playing to help you deal with the challenges you face in your work every day.

Registration is Limited! Registration is first-come, first-served. It’s free! Registration includes light snacks and workshop materials. Parking is free. To register, email [email protected] with your name, school/department name, phone number, and whether you want to attend the morning or afternoon session.

Topics Your role in school and district image-building • Communication skills • Customer service • Telephone tips Dealing with difficult people

Presenter Marilyn Saltzman, APR, Public Relations Consultant

Questions? Call the Public Information Office, 303-764-3414.