Proposed Policy Change Cheats our Kids!

Tomorrow (Monday) night at the Alamosa School Board meeting the BOE will begin the steps to change the definition of "Actively Engaged in the Educational Process" to include the time between classes for both OMS/AHS.  

The BOE is proposing a revision to district policy that will strike excluding passing time (time between classes when students move from one class to another) to allow this passing time to be counted in the number of hours students are "actively engaged in the educational process".  You can see the proposed revision here. 

In that same policy it states... "The Board defines "actively engaged in the educational process" as time when students are working toward achieving educational objectives under the supervision of a licensed teacher."   While we understand that teachers are involved in passing time from a behavioral standpoint, we do not believe that students are working towards achieving educational objectives during these passing periods.  

A-PAGE believes that passing periods should not be counted as "actively engaged in the educational process".   The BOE is making this change because currently both OMS and AHS are not meeting the minimum number of hours required by state law without including passing time.  Passing time accounts for approximately 30 minutes each day.  This 30 minutes adds up to about 84 hours of instruction each year that our students are not getting as required by state law.  We have provided alternative options to the school district that increases the day at the middle school and high school by 30 minutes (start 15 minutes earlier and end 15 minutes later) to allow the school district to meet the minimum hours, without overburdening teachers with a longer work week (this is achieved with slightly different PLC time for the middle and high school teachers each week).

We need parents to rally in opposition to this proposed policy revision!! 

Our students are already behind their peers in Colorado.  Let's work at increasing educational time for students instead of decreasing it by counting non-education time as actively involved in education.

The school board meeting begins at 7pm at the District Office (209 Victoria Avenue – south end of  OMS parking lot). If you wish to speak regarding this policy revision, you must arrive 5 minutes early and sign up with the secretary. You will get 3 minutes to address the board. This section of the meeting occurs shortly after the start of the meeting.

Policy changes require three readings by the BOE.  This Monday is the first reading of this proposed policy change.  If you are unable to attend this Monday's meeting to speak, please consider attending one of the upcoming readings or contact any school board member via phone.  School Board members names & contact information can be found here.

There are 3 opportunities for you to speak regarding this policy:

1. Monday at 7pm
2. The second reading, when any discussion is to occur by the school board (will likely be on June 3rd). 
3. The final reading is when the revision will be approved (date is unknown - probably at the next scheduled board meeting)

We encourage you to attend and speak up!
Sincerely,
A-PAGE Committee 

Adams State Aligns Spring Break with Valley Schools

An issue that A-PAGE has been working on for the last two years has finally come to a resolution. 

Adams State has decided to adjust the calendars for the next two academic years to align Adams State spring break with a majority of the Valley school districts (including the Alamosa School District).

2013-14: Spring Break will be Monday – Friday, March 24 – 28, 2014
2014-15: Spring Break will be Monday – Friday, March 23 – 27, 2015

This will allow those students, parents and families of Alamosa School District students who are employed by or concurrently enrolled at Adams State to have the same spring break schedule.  For the last 3 years the spring breaks of Adams State and the Alamosa School District have not been held during the same week, causing problems for many students (ASD as well as ASU) and their families.

Earlier this year most of the school districts in the valley came together to align on the same spring break for the 2013-14 school year.  This step by ASU has now completed that alignment. 

Note: TSJC rotates alignment of their spring break with Trinidad School District one year and with Alamosa School District the next year.  So this change will also add TSJC to the alignment every other year.