LPS Facility Use Task Force to host public forum May 5
The Littleton Public Schools Facility Use Task Force is hosting its first public forum to gain community insight and information regarding the efficiency and instructional integrity of how district facilities are currently used. The forum will be held:
Monday, May 5, 2008
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Education Services Center
5776 S. Crocker Street
Littleton, CO 80120
Everyone is invited. Those in attendance will learn more about the charge of the Facility Use Task Force and its work thus far. They will also have an opportunity to share ideas with and give suggestions to Task Force members. All feedback received will be a part of the Task Force’s ongoing study. Additional public forums will be held in the fall of 2008, and a range of suggestions will be brought to the LPS Board of Education before December, 2008.
The Facility Use Task Force has a broad membership representing parents, community members, teachers and principals from elementary, middle, and high schools levels, a classified staff member, and three liaisons from the district level.
Task Force Chairs Tracie Rainey and Pat Wojahn stress that no decisions have been made, and that community input is vital to the process. “The Task Force has not been given a specific outcome to work toward. It is important that all alternatives have a district-wide focus and ensure that all students are the ones who benefit,” said Rainey.
To learn more about the charge of the Facility Use Task Force or to review notes from previous Task Force meetings, visit www.littletonpublicschools.net. The Task Force’s preliminary report to the Board of Education will be posted on the website prior to the forum, as well.
Littleton Public Schools Facility Use Task Force absorbs data; discussions to take place in following weeks
The Littleton Public Schools Facility Use Task Force began meeting in February. So far, the meetings have been heavily focused on studying data from a number of areas; everything from student achievement to enrollment projections. Now, members of the Task Force will begin to discuss what the data tells them and what kinds of changes may need to be made, so long as changes result in an improved learning environment for the children served by the district.
Factors the Task Force will consider include academic achievement trends, long-range enrollment forecasts, impacts to students, parent choice and community preferences, demographic shifts, financial implications, and potential for future growth. The Facility Use Task Force includes broad membership representing parents, community members, teachers and principals from elementary, middle, and high schools levels, a classified staff member, and three liaisons from the district level.
The Task Force is scheduled to present a preliminary report to the LPS Board of Education in April, with one of several public forums to be held before school is out in the spring.
“The district has the responsibility to periodically review how its facilities are being used, not just to identify areas that might be under used, but to also see if there are better ways to house programs that benefit students,” said Kirk Madsen, LPS assistant superintendent of operations. “Any changes that might be made must improve the learning environment for the students we serve.”