The board has had a busy week attending school functions, community meetings and our work session. Tammy Harold and I met with about 20 community members in the Meridian Ranch area on Tuesday night and discussed topics such as State standards and testing, the D-49 Special Education programs, bonds and mill levies and the budget. The community was very engaged and had many questions. We were able to address some concerns informally and refer other concerns to the appropriate people.

Board Update Statement 1-14-2010

I want to thank our parents, community members and staff for joining us tonight. We are happy to be moving forward in this district and have many updates we would like to give you at this time.

Fundraising practices in our schools have got to change. For years our family has been beset by modern fundraising practices that turned our children into panhandlers. Our children are encouraged to go door to door soliciting people to buy overpriced cookie dough, magazines, coupon books, and a host of other products all under the auspice of the “Helping our schools”. When asked what the goal is, often we are simply told what the reward for the child or the class will be, not about the point of the fundraising.

What a night for D-49!!!

This was originally posted as a response to a comment that was left by Jackie Vialapando at http://www.kentclawson.com/Best-wishes#comment-104

Jackie Vialpando District 49 (D49) Union Rep

As many of you know, in April of this year the current economic realities resulted in downsizing of my position with my employer. I was very fortunate to have a skill set that presented many opportunities, but unfortunately many of those were not in the Colorado Springs region. It is in this light that I have recently accepted a position with a university in Tennessee. It appears that this will be a permanent position, once the probationary time associated with this position has passed, and I look forward to the opportunity.

(KENT's DISCLAIMER: The views below are strictly my own and should not be taken as a reflection of the Board or their positions. Additionally my comments should not be interpreted as Board guidance.)

Please review the disclaimer above, because I feel that it would not be fair to characterize the thoughts that will follow as the position of the Board, nor its members except for one.

I too am amazed that someone who seems to share many of the same values that I do, is so put out by the actions that individual schools have chosen to take.

First, I want to thank everyone who made possible the decision of today issued by the El Paso county clerk. As I have said in the past, by the end of July I was ready to hang this whole game up, but it was the support (and chastisement ;-) of so many people that made this come to pass. So I want to say thank you.

First of all, I want to thank everyone that helped us with the Recall The Recall (RTR) efforts. It was invigorating to see all of the support that came out. I can't thank you enough for your support ant your kind wishes.

http://www.coloradoconnection.com/news/video.aspx?id=333129

Greetings all,

I wanted to drop a quick thank you note to all who have assisted with the requests for removal of names from the recall petitions.