Category: Education

Roaring Fork Superintendent Diana Sirko said Tuesday there were “very few” no-shows in Basalt and Carbondale, but the opt-outs in Glenwood represented around 10 percent of the roughly 200-student senior class.

The Roaring Fork School District has begun a major “facilities master planning” process, and the Basalt-El Jebel area could see significant physical changes as a result.

Teachers, students and administrators in the Aspen School District wonder if standardized tests are consuming too much instructional time, and if it’s time to back off on assessment.

Aspen High School will restore “tutorial time” in the daily schedule to answer parent complaints. But administrators aren’t backing down on “everyday math,” their attempt to boost student performance in mathematics by adding hours and frequency of math classes.

A steady parade of school-bound SUVs can effectively block the highway and create gridlock that stretches downvalley.

Skye Skinner’s leadership and fundraising skills helped secure 70 percent of the money needed to renovate the Aspen Community School’s campus in Woody Creek. Even though construction is underway, however, another $4 million is still needed to finish the project.

The primary driver of instruction in both school districts remains the classroom teacher. Computers, though essential to 21st-century workplaces and schools, are merely the means to an end.

In November 2012, voters in the city of Aspen approved a 0.3 percent sales tax for education. The sales tax produced $1.4 million in revenue for the district in the 2013-2014 school year. The city sales tax sunsets in 2016.

Regional public schools have been cutting budgets in an attempt to offset the decline in state funding.