Email from Sheri Williams, Director of BVSD Elementary Schools, sent Friday, Sept. 9, 2005

Dear Tom, Tim and Kristi,

I would like to invite a group of up to five representative Crest View parents to meet with me and district Operations’ staff to discuss Crest View’s enrollment and staffing issues. I spoke with Tom Gale this morning and he agreed that such a meeting might be a productive next step. Tom will identify two other parents who might be interested in joining us at the meeting.

While the immediate concerns with the 2nd grade class size have been addressed with an additional .5 Teacher FTE, para hours, and another section of specials, I am asking for this meeting with operational services in order to initiate a study of the question of enrollment impacts at Crest View Elementary and the identification of schools receiving differentiated staffing.

The study may include a review of school demographics, school size and program capacity, program placement, controls on open enrollment, staffing formulas, current boundaries, and school capacity within the city of Boulder.

If you could each give me a sense of the meeting times that would be convenient for you, I will proceed with scheduling the meeting.

I look forward to your input with district operations staff. Your perspectives will be most valuable as we plan for next year.

Regards,

Sheri Williams

c: Ned Levine

c: Dr. Chris King, Deputy Superintendent

Sheri S. Williams, Ed.D., Director of School Leadership/Elementary Level, Boulder Valley Schools, (303) 447-5048 x 5030

Email by Kristi Anderson to BVSD officials on Friday, Sept. 9, 2005

——– Original Message ——– Subject: Grievance Procedure
Date: Fri, 09 Sep 2005 10:02:47 -0600
From: Kristi Anderson
Reply-To: kristi@abstract.com
To: Angelika Schroeder – School Board Member , Chris King – BVSD Educational Programs , Cindy Monet , Darci Mohr – Legal Counsel BVSD , Dawn Shulz – Crest View 2nd Grade Teacher , Don Orr – BVSD Director of Planning & Construction , Donna Casey , George Garcia – Superintendent of Schools , Helayne Jones – School Board Member , Jean Paxton – School Board Member , Joe Sleeper , Julie Phillips – School Board President , Ken Roberge – School Board Member , Mark Bauer , Mary Cox – Crest View 2nd Grade Teacher , Ned Levine – Crest View Principal , Roger Hammond – BVSD COO , Sheri Williams – BVSD Director of School Leadership , Sofie Trujillo-Shrock – Crest View 2nd Grade Teacher , Stan Garnett – School Board Member , “Teresa Steele – School Board V.P.” , Virginia Pool

Dear School Board Members and BVSD Administrators:

I would like to know where I can find the information and/ or forms to file a formal grievance regarding the distributions of FTE’s to BVSD elementary schools .Please let me know If there is a separate discrimination form to be filed as well.

I am still very concerned with the overcrowding of Crest View’s second grade class in light of the high number of impoverished students. There is also a long term issue that needs to be addressed now. Crest View is facing the severe overcrowding next year. Their current kindergarten class has 90 students. Every year for the past 5 years Crest View has received between 6-13 additional students when these students move to 1st grade. Sheri William’s reviewed these figures when I met with her on Tuesday. She agreed this is information is accurate. Due to these statistics there is a strong indication there will be 5 rounds of first grade at Crest View next year. Sheri also agreed that there is a strong indication based on current student numbers and trends that Crest View will easily be looking at 4 rounds of 3 & 5 grade based on our current number of students in 2nd and 4th grade this year. Third grade also has a enough students to indicate 3.5 to 4 rounds next year. Four rounds of Kindergarten has been common ever since the 2001 school year. The medium density development just East of Pleasant View Fields has already broken ground. The housing development by the drive-in has not been completed. Both of these developments have anticipated impact on Crest View’s student enrollment. Even if Crest View’s open enrollment is closed this spring, we are still looking at the possibility of severe over crowding for 2006-2007 school year. Ned Levine stated at the parent meeting he will have to “displace a program” to find a classroom for the .5 FTE that has been added to second grade. Ned has indicated to both teachers and parents that there is no classroom space left at Crest View. A team should evaluate the current classroom availability at Crest View and establish a contingency plan this year to address the over crowding/class size/class availability issues. Failing to address this issue until the fall of 2006 would disrupt quality education for the students at Crest View.

We were informed at the Second Grade parents meeting on Wednesday, September 7th, that BVSD will no longer place portables at schools to reduce class size. Sheri WIlliams stated this decision was made by BVSD due to past experience of adding portables caused a false sense of space, which was then filled by even more open enrolled students. This decision needs to be reviewed this year. Crest View should not be punished for poor decisions made at other schools. If there is no class space available at Crest View, portables should be an option. Plans need to be made now to ensure appropriate classroom space will be available for our current students and future neighborhood students who will be attending Crest View during the 2006-2007 school year. I am prepared to file a formal grievance regarding this issue if it would facilitate prompt decision making.

Regards,
Kristi Anderson
Crest View Parent