text: DAAC adds input to RE-1 budget discussion – Sterling Journal-Advocate
  DAAC adds input to RE-1 budget discussion
  PUBLISHED: February 25, 2010 at 3:19 p.m. | UPDATED: May 8, 2019 at 3:16 a.m.
  STERLING — Next year's budget continues to be a topic of discussion in RE-1 Valley School District. At Monday's regular District Accountability Advisory Committee (DAAC) meeting, the committee heard the budget presentation that has been given at all the community meetings.
  During the presentation, the committee briefly discussed ideas to reduce expenses, including asking the state to provide districts like RE-1 with more per-pupil funding equal to what other districts in the state get.
  It was also pointed out that the public should be aware that the school board has not made any decisions about what will be done yet. They want to hear suggestions before making any kind of decisions.
  Already they feel the community meetings have been helpful.
  "I would have felt hesitant (to make decisions) if we didn't have the community meetings," said board member Cody Engelhaupt.
  For those who have not had a chance to attend a community meeting, there is one more meeting coming up at 6 p.m., Monday, March 1, at Hagen Administration Center.
  Also, anyone should feel free to send in their comments about the three questions the school board is asking:
  • What are the educational features you value in the district?
  • What are the educational features and/or extracurricular activities that impact student's education in the district that you think should be protected when reductions are required to meet budgetary constraints?
  • What district items, areas, expenses or activities are things you would like the board of education and administration to consider for potential budgetary reduction?
  You can comment by mail to RE-1 Valley Board of Education, 301 Hagen St., Sterling, CO 80751 or e-mail board secretary Kim Bennett at bennettk@re1valleyschools.org.
  The board will receive a compiling of all the comments received from community members once the meetings are finished. Then it will be up to Superintendent Betty Summers to make suggestions to the board, which will then have to make decisions based on her suggestions. The board is already planning a workshop to discuss the budget on Monday, March 29.
  During the meeting, Summers also updated the committee on the survey created by DAAC that was given to students, parents and staff in the fall. She said the person who is compiling the results has the surveys almost finished and hopefully that information will be able to be presented to the DAAC and the school board in March.
  She also talked about the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and ESL (English as a Second Language)/Parent meetings. RE-1 is part of the consortium with Centennial BOCES and BOCES has people who will come to talk to ESL parents in their own language about how to prepare students for the CSAP's (Colorado Student Assessment Program), which have already been completed by third graders.
  Schedules for other grades will be going out soon.
  In talking about NCLB, Summers also talked about the importance of the new Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA) Federal Programs Coordinator, LeeAnn Nichols. Part of her job is to get reports turned in regarding the Title programs. They also hope to have her do some grant writing.
  One of the reasons the district was written up for corrective action several years ago was because they didn't talk about what they do with federal programs on a regular basis. So the district will be talking about federal programs more in the future.