As we move forward into 2011, Falcon School District 49 is embarking on a new journey. With the Boardís approval at the Jan. 13 meeting, the District has adopted an Innovation Initiative. We are looking to jolt the flat line of student achievement we have seen for many years as a district. The rapidly changing nature of education means that the learning environment must be dynamic and evolving to meet the needs of our 21st century learners. It is an exciting time for Falcon School District, as we shatter the mold of traditional public education, leading the way for learning in the state of Colorado with our Innovation Initiative.The Initiative divides the district into three distinct Innovation Zones. Within their zones, schools will have the freedom and flexibility to adjust curriculum, modify programs and cater specifically to the needs of their students. The expectations facing our students as they graduate high school are shifting as the 21st century workplace becomes more global and demanding. A focused and strategic educational environment is critical to best preparing our students for success.A unified educational process is the goal of the districtís separate Innovation Zones. Falcon High Principal Mark Carara, Sand Creek Principal Sean Dorsey and Vista Ridge Principal Bob Felice will serve as innovation leaders for their Innovation Zones and the five schools in their feeder patterns. You can look forward to getting to know these leaders better over the course of the next several months. I also welcome you to visit the Innovation Initiative section at www.d49.org for additional resources and updated information. The Innovation Initiative encompasses all aspects of the district, from teachers and classrooms to support services. A restructuring of administrative level staff and support personnel is meant to better support our schools and send our valuable resources straight into the classrooms. As part of this initiative; creative, out-of-the-box thinking is required of all departments.The Boardís recent vote to eliminate bus service across the district is an effort to facilitate a more cost-efficient service for our students. Currently, the Transportation Department is drafting several innovative options for busing across the district. No changes will be made to busing services throughout this school year. Any changes will be implemented for the 2011-12 school year. The Board plans to make a decision on transportation options by the end of March.Throughout the month of February, the district will host a series of community conversations. These open meetings will provide students, staff, community members and parents the opportunity to learn more about the districtís Innovation Initiative, as well as better understand the innovative options the district is considering for student busing. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and talk with district leaders about this innovative plan and vision and our ultimate goal of improving student achievement and success. Community participation is a primary component of the Innovation Initiative and the overall success of Falcon School District 49. I look forward to working with you as we pull together our resources and unite as a district and a community-wide team to support our students and arm them with the education necessary to succeed.How did we get here? Where are we going?An open letter from the Falcon School District 49 Board of Education in its original form, uneditedFalcon School District has long led, and been criticized for, efforts to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent purposefully and in a manner that directly supports the classroom. For example, in February, 2009, the District was the first front-range school district to place its financial records online; well ahead of any state mandates. And for better or worse, the Falcon community consistently has elected Board Members running on a platform of fiscally sound policies. Such policies have just as consistently been trumped by the reality that the district, like most governmental agencies, long ago developed a bureaucracy that, until now, has proven almost impossible to dislodge. Today, in the face of annual budget rescissions and related budgetary challenges, Falcon School District 49 has moved in the direction of disruptive change. This change is uncomfortable, but the Board believes it to be inevitable. Already, surrounding districts are considering half-measures including fees for bus transportation, new means for compensating teachers and other innovative, but isolated, approaches to the new normal of financial austerity. This was the predicate for the Innovation Initiatives adopted by the Board of Education. Our District has moved in a direction that likely will be described by the media and others as ìradicalî or ìdangerous.î Rarely is it easy to embrace change. It is far easier to criticize. But in this age of decreasing student funding, in a district seeking greater student achievement, and in a time in history where our communities are demanding more honest and more accessible government, the District has committed itself to this disruptive, but well-researched and promising change.The details of the Innovation Initiative are well-documented and supported by myriad studies and articles available at the District website and elsewhere. Its fundamental merits are documented in articles from across the state and nation; even before the plans have been fully implemented. Please see our website or visit a community meeting this month for more details. However, this plan has a start-up cost.Just as is the case with Congress, the current Board of Education is saddled with the promises, contracts and policies implemented by its predecessors. In many respects, prior Boards were instrumental in setting the table for the unveiling of these Innovation Initiatives. However, certain aspects of the Districtís bureaucracy sit intractably gathering dust and must be dismantled if real change can occur. As part of the Innovation plans, various positions have and will be either eliminated or re-tasked. This week, the District has received multiple public record requests for documentation regarding the details of various personnel changes that already have occurred within the administration. As distasteful as it may be, the very details concerning positional changes accompanied by angry allegations from a critic are the very bread and butter of local media. Thus, the District has concluded that some details should be set forth on this page and provided to the media for the sake of clarifying the record.As stated above, this Board of Education is bound by any contracts or agreements made by its predecessors, who could not have anticipated the economic crisis and the passing of the Innovation Act by the State. Therefore, this Board has decided to fully honor such contracts, even in certain cases where jobs are being eliminated entirely, for the sake of the dignity and needs of its diligent and professional administrators whose positions soon will be gone. Thus, final contract payments of several hundred thousand dollars will be honored rather than to delay implementation or to force these highly qualified and exemplary employees to conduct menial or dead-end tasks to finish out their contract terms. More such payments may yet occur as other elements of the new organizational chart are implemented. This hard choice is dictated by the Board of Educationís commitment to honor its employees as best as possible while setting the table for long-term fiscal savings. If not now, when should the District start to curtail six figure salary positions?This spring, the District likely will incur additional development costs, contract payments and other transition costs. However, altogether these costs will comprise less than a quarter of the amount at stake in our critical transportation decisions. And these costs soon will be fully recouped by lower salaries and other efficiencies inherent in the new, non-bureaucratic, entrepreneurial approach that this District is pioneering.This will be loudly criticized as ìjust another example of how Falcon works.î Such words will be satisfying particularly to those who choose not to believe in an entrepreneurial and innovative approach to education. This change may be radical. It may be dangerous. But as we look around our state and our nation, this Board of Education has determined to lead and not to follow. It believes that an ìinvestmentî in education can no longer simply mean pouring more money into a broken system. So it is willing to pay the up-front costs, just as any business that re-organizes must honor its commitments to its employees, and then Falcon is going to lead the way into the next era of education. And it invites its community to join the adventure.For more information on the Innovation Initiatives, please visit our website or attend a board meeting, community meeting or school-based events occurring now and for the months to come.Falcon School District 49Community ConversationsMark your calendar!Falcon School District 49 welcomes you to join in the conversation. Open meetings will be held to answer questions and receive community feedback regarding the District Innovation Initiative and options for student transportation. The District looks forward to hearing from you.Monday, Feb. 7: Sand Creek High SchoolWednesday, Feb. 9: Vista Ridge High SchoolWednesday, Feb. 23: Falcon High SchoolFriday, Feb. 25: Falcon High SchoolAll meetings will be held from 6 – 7:30 p.m.School contact and location information can be found at www.d49.org
