News Release - State Board of Education approves Local Accountability Grant funding

March 12, 2020

State Board of Education approves Local Accountability Grant funding

Board approves CIVICA Charter School appeal

DENVER - The State Board of Education at its two-day monthly meeting Wednesday and Thursday approved 11 recipients for the Local Accountability Systems Grant. The grant is available to local education providers for three years with $450,000 total available each year. Funding is meant to help establish a local accountability system that supplements the state system.

Charter school appeal

The board approved CIVICA Charter School’s appeal of Weld County School District RE-5J’s decision to deny its charter application. The decision was remanded back to the local board, allowing the charter to work with the district to open for the 2021-22 school year.

Exclusive chartering authority hearing

The state board denied a request from the Colorado League of Charter Schools to revoke Littleton Public Schools’ exclusive chartering authority. Among its arguments, the League cited concerns over whether the school district equally shared funds from a mill levy override, bond distribution and grants with charter schools. The board determined the League failed to demonstrate that the district has had a pattern of unfairly treating charter schools.

Performance levels and cut scores for SAT

The board adopted recommended mathematics and English language arts performance levels and cut scores for Colorado’s SAT college entrance exam. These cut scores let students, parents and teachers know to what extent if students are mastering expectations for college and career readiness defined in the Colorado Academic Standards. In addition to being Colorado’s college admission exam, the SAT measures those standards that all students are expected to have addressed by the end of 11th grade regardless of locally-determined scope and sequence.

Recognition of outstanding educators

Four educators were recognized as Colorado’s most recent recipients of the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. In October 2019, the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the White House announced its 2017 awardees for grades 7-12 and 2018 awardees for grades K-6. The following educators won the award:

• Jennifer Moriarty, Career Education Center Early College, Denver Public Schools
• Tamara Pennington, Windsor High School, Weld RE-4
• Jina Bradford, STEM Lab, Adams 12 Five Star School District
• Kate Pacheck, Prairie Winds Elementary School, Pueblo County 70

The board also recognized 2020 Colorado Teacher of the Year Hilary Wimmer, a business teacher at Mountain Range High School in Adams 12 Five Star Schools. Wimmer was selected for her passion helping students become financially literate.

Rulemaking hearings:

• Approved the Rules for the Administration of the English Language Proficiency Act. The board’s vote removed unnecessary language in the rules. ELPA provides support to school districts for required English language learner development programs.
• Approved amended Rules for the Administration of the Colorado Reading to Ensure Academic Development Act. In April, the board is anticipated to vote on an approved assessment for the educator training requirement.

Notices of rulemaking:

• Approved the Notice of Rulemaking for the Rules for the Administration of the Concurrent Enrollment Program. Revisions include an update to the definition of concurrent enrollment and the number of postsecondary credits in which students enroll to be part- or full-time for school funding purposes.
• Approved the Notice of Rulemaking for the Rules for the Administration of the Educator Licensing Act. The rules have been amended to include updates to the master teacher endorsement standards and licensure application requirements.

In other actions, the board:

• Approved 11 recipients for the Local Accountability Systems Grant. The grant is available to local education providers for three years with $450,000 total available each year. Funding is meant to help establish a local accountability system that supplements the state system. Priority for grant funding is given to rural school districts and proposals ready for implementation.
• Approved changes to the Kindergarten School Readiness Reporting System. Since implementation in 2017, CDE has received feedback that the current data reporting does not provide useful information to stakeholders. Changes to the collection are meant to help improve the information provided by the state to policy makers and district leaders.
• Approved the recommended high schools for early college re-designation. These schools offer students the opportunity to complete a postsecondary credential, such as an associate’s degree or industry certificate, while in high school.
• Received a quarterly update from MGT Consulting about the progress of Adams 14 School District. MGT was selected to provide full district management for the district and last provided an update to the board in September 2019.