As of this week, the Denver Public School Board meetings are now being streamed live on UStream, for your viewing pleasure from the comfort of your computer, or as an app through your smartphone.

Tested from my Droid on Thursday, the phone app did drop the stream often, but when it held it, the quality of the video and sound was good.

As I sat at Thursday’s board meeting — the first streamed online — and then listened to board member Jeannie Kaplan raise a question brought to her attention through an email from a constituent, I wondered about the two communication modes working together soon. Imagine, as you watch the board meeting live, you send a quick note to your board member bringing more questions to their attention, perhaps allowing them to raise another viewpoint during their discussions.

An opportunity at the very least, for sure.

Board member Andrea Merida, who is already big on community engagement through Twitter, Facebook, and her own blog, suggested the idea of the live stream to the district.

“This is constituent engagement in a real-time and innovative fashion,” Merida said. “The great thing about Ustream is the real-time chat that flows along the right of the screen. We can quickly gauge reactions to votes, conversations, etc. in ways that no survey or focus group can match, and it allows for an immediate, cost-effective transparency.”

On another note, my story from the meeting focused on one of the staff recommendations to close an alternative charter school. District staff however presented a multitude of recommendations to the board about new charter school applications, re-designed school boundaries, and other charter contract renewals.

Of three new school applications, the district reccomended only one for approval, Sims Fayola International Academy, which if the board does approve, would be the second all boys school slated for far northeast Denver. The first, Miller-McCoy Academy for Mathematics and Business, was approved in June.

Among location recommendations is that Creative Challenge Community – a new performance school approved in June – be co-located at Merrill Middle School. This recommendation has already been building steam in the southeast Denver community, and did raise some discussion on Thursday. Look for a story on this next week.

Monday, the board will host a special meeting just to hear from the public about all of those recommendations, before the board is set to vote on them on Nov. 17.

A national group looking to bring more attention to the local Douglas County school voucher battle, has published a video to release just after the district’s school board elections, that reaffirmed the majority of the county’s support for vouchers.

Vouchers in Douglas County video by choicemedia.tv

The group, ChoiceMedia.TV is a group advocating for school choice, including school vouchers, be advised. ChoiceMedia.TV’s founder and executive director, Bob Bowdon flew in from New Jersey to talk with parents, board members, and political analysts about the voucher program.

In the video, school board members and Douglas County Public School superintendent Elizabeth Celania-Fagen talk about why they fight for the program as a way to give families more choice.

“If a parent truly believes — and they know their children well — if they truly believe that a school outside of my district is going to be the school that offers that child the opportunity to maximize their full potential, I don’t want to be in the way of that,” Celania-Fagen said.

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Planned Parenthood Votes Colorado, a state advocate for reproductive health care services and comprehensive sexuality education, announced ratings of school board candidates today.

Their ratings are based on short candidate surveys, the responses to which can be found on the organization’s website.

The group surveyed candidates for school board in Denver, Colorado Springs, Jefferson County, Durango, and Fort Collins.

In Denver, all nine candidates responded to the survey, and all, but two, were identified as “advocates.” The two with different rankings, Roger Kilgore, and John Daniel — both candidates for the at-large seat — were rated as allies.

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Arturo Jimenez, Denver Public Schools board member running for re-election in district 5

The relatively new 501 (c) 4, nonprofit group of Latinos for Education Reform, are continuing as promised with their campaign against Denver school board member, Arturo Jimenez, running for re-election in northwest Denver’s district 5.

LatinosEdReform video

The group claims Jimenez has leveraged his Hispanic heritage to get elected, but has voted to stop measures that would help the district’s minority students.

In a video posted online Thursday (called “The two faces of Arturo Jimenez”), he is shown talking about his support for West Denver Prep at a forum, then text inserted in the video lists the times Jimenez has voted against West Denver Prep, and shows an excerpt of a speech that Jimenez gave to community parents when he voted against the school.

One clip shows Jimenez stating that he voted for West Denver Prep schools three times.

Here’s the yes votes I counted in Northwest Denver:

Yes for an amended WDP 4 contract on Nov. 30, 2009 with a location to be determined as somewhere other than the Emerson facility near North High School

Yes to move the WDP at Emerson facility into a wing of North High School, on Nov. 18, 2010

According to Dave Sabados, Jimenez’s campaign manager, the third vote he referred to was for another West Denver Prep in southwest Denver, which also took place during his time on the board.

I wrote about the West Denver Prep votes in a previous story about the group when two weeks ago, they purchased full-page ads in three local newspapers criticizing Jimenez, and also board member Andrea Merida.

The ads also announced the group’s endorsement for three candidates for the Denver Public Schools board: Anne Rowe for district 1; Happy Haynes for at-large; and Jennifer Draper Carson for district 5 — Jimenez’s opponent.

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This is what didn’t make it into my story for space reasons:

First of all, here is a link to the four-page board spending policy that was unanimously approved last night.

The policy was approved as part of the night’s consent agenda, and was not discussed at the Thursday meeting. As a rare occurrence, nothing on the agenda was held for discussion.

The quick meeting was then followed by a regular public comment session. The majority of the scheduled comments were from parents and community members in southeast Denver.

Next month, the DPS board could vote on the co-location of Creative Challenge Community, also known as C3, a new “performance” elementary school to be placed in Merrill Middle School.

The district distinguishes performance schools as those designed from the ground up by local educators, parents, and community stakeholders. Performance schools — unlike charters — are still managed by the DPS board of education, and instructional superintendents. Unless the schools apply for special innovation status, performance school employees are also covered by union collective bargaining agreements.

Among the concerns voiced by the majority of speakers, are concerns about space, mixing young elementary students with the young adolescents in middle school, and fear that it may prompt a decrease in resources for Merrill Middle School.

Parents and community members were also at last month’s meeting urging the board to consider an alternative location for C3.

I’ll be following this more as the vote nears.

Contact me if you would like to send in your comments about the process and the co-location. (yrobles@denverpost.com)

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On another topic, Van Schoales, executive director of A-Plus Denver also showed up to publicly urge board members to “move quickly to pay back” all the overages incurred against their $5,000 allocations for board related expenses, and to enact a policy to ensure the same doesn’t happen again.

“You are stewards of all of our money,” Schoales said. “We don’t believe every constituent meeting requires coffee or a meal, some do, but we know we’re in tough times.”

In the final accounting, two board members were found to have exceeded their $5,000 budgets in the past fiscal year: Andrea Merida, who spent $12,427.87, and Jimenez, who spent $6,153.29.

Schoales told board members the issue was a distraction from important board policy and work.

“What you do sends a message to all of us and all of our schools,” Schoales said.

As he was leaving the podium, board member Jeannie Kaplan said, “We already voted on this and passed it, I don’t know where you were.”

As board president Nate Easley moved to introduce the following speaker, Kaplan continued by saying, “I’m highly offended…highly.”

During Schoale’s speech, board member Jimenez had temporarily stepped out of the board room.

Jimenez and Merida still have not made any reimbursements to the district.

I wrote a story about Tuesday’s forum where discussions of turnaround efforts and moratoriums took the spotlight.

This morning’s forum which centered around after-school programs, was a lot more agreeable, with all candidates agreeing that out-of-school activities are important.

The only candidate not in attendance was Frank Deserino running for an at-large seat. His campaign manager appeared almost half an hour late to speak on his behalf.

Here are some excerpts from each candidate’s response to a question about the role of out-of-school programs in reform efforts. (This is the order in which they responded.)

Roger Kilgore: “It’s about incorporating everyone’s opinion. I would try to recast reform as something open.”

Anne Rowe: “Need to allow parents to choose the best environment for their children. We need those collaborations. Resources are tough…The best way is if we all work together.”

Jacqui Shumway: “We need to go back and look at what that is enhancing.”

Emily Sirota: “What reform means to me is the reform process by which we engage the community, parents, teachers, and students… We are all reformers; we all want what’s best for our kids. We need to stop using these divisive labels.”

John Daniel: “Reform is not as important as what we can do at the administration level to get more dweebs back in school, or we can call them people, but we have to get them engaged.”

Frank Deserino: (through campaign manager) “Not many people would argue that we don’t need to do something different, but what that is shouldn’t be limited…Organizations definitely know what kind of reform is appropriate.”

Jennifer Draper Carson: “At North we undertook a survey…asked respondents to draw out what are the best things going on at your school. The results collected were a set of best practices… We do have so many successful opportunities in our schools… It’s very possible to unpack that.”

Happy Haynes: “First, finding what works best and doing more of it. Second change or quit doing what doesn’t work… Then there’s the issue of accountability… your organizations have really learned that and how to focus on outcomes.”

Arturo Jimenez: “Reform is collaborative…We have to move forward particularly with technology…Particularly because many families don’t have access to that at home.”
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Got a hold of some details for Wednesday’s forum for Denver Public Schools board member candidates. Forum is open to the public, on a space permitting basis.

All nine candidates will be there or will be represented.

This forum is sponsored by the Denver Quality After-School Connection, a network of youth program providers that serve DPS students.

The focus of the forum will be to to talk about the importance of community partnerships and after-school activities.

Those interested in attending should RSVP as soon as possible with Catherine Wise by e-mailing her at catherine_wise@dpsk12.org, or by phone at 720-424-8256.

10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Mi Casa Resource Center for Women, 360 Acoma St. Denver

Denver School board candidates Arturo Jimenez, running for re-election in district 5, and Emily Sirota, running for a seat in district 1, have decided they will not be able to attend tomorrow night’s candidate forum at the University of Denver.

Tuesday’s forum will be hosted by a group of nonprofit organizations including A-Plus Denver, Get Smart Schools and Metro Organizations for People.

Instead, both of the union-endorsed candidates, will send campaign managers in their place. Interestingly, both campaign guys who will take those seats at the forum, are collegues, members of the Compass Strategy team.

Dave Sabados, will make an appearance for Jimenez, and Kevin Paquette will make an appearance for Sirota.

According to the finance reports released last week, Sirota has so far paid Paquette $3,000 through the beginning of October while Jimenez has paid Sabados $11,666.66.

Both Sabados and Paquette work for Compass Strategy, a firm that also employs Berrick Abramson, who recently worked as deputy campaign manager for Andrew Romanoff during his campaign for a seat in the senate, and for James Mejia in his campaign for Denver mayor.

Abramson clarified late Monday that both Sabados and Paquette are on leave from working with Compass Strategy through December 2011. He said they took the leave before enlisting to work with their campaigns.

Abramson said he has contributed money to Jennifer Draper Carson’s campaign — Jimenez’s opponent — evidence he said, that he and Compass Strategy are not connected to Paquette and Sabados’ independent work with Sirota and Jimenez.

Campaign finance reports confirm that Abramson contributed to Carson’s campaign.

In an email, Sabados said today that Jimenez prioritized other events in his district in northwest Denver.

“Arturo is dedicated to representing his district, and will be attending four previously scheduled events in North and West Denver tomorrow evening. The A-Plus Denver forum is quite a ways from the district,” Sabados wrote.

Jimenez however, will have another chance to have a discussion with his opponent Jennifer Draper Carson, at a forum on Wednesday morning at Mi Casa Resource Center. Both Jimenez and Carson are scheduled to attend that forum.

Paquette, like Sabados, said Sirota will be prioritizing a few other events happening in her district.

“Emily will be attending an early childhood development event and then there are a number of events and meetings in the district she is going to stop by,” Paquette said.

Both Sirota and opponent Anne Rowe will next be together at the same Wednesday forum at Mi Casa.

Organizers for Wednesday’s forum were not immediately available. It is unclear if that forum is open to the public. Will post details about it, if I find out it is.

Now that people have their ballots at home, I’ve noticed an increase in people searching for information about the candidates they are being asked to vote for.

So, for those who have a chance, why not go hear from the candidates themselves? All nine candidates for the three seat openings in Denver Public School’s board of education are expected to attend Tuesday’s forum – among the last before election day.

This one will be hosted by Metro Organizations for People, A+ Denver, and Get Smart Schools — three organizations not involved in candidate endorsements.

Here’s the details:

DPS Candidate Forum
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
6:00 to 7:30 p.m.
University of Denver, Davis Auditorium
2000 East Asbury Ave, Denver CO 80208

Event organizers say space is limited, so if you are interested in going, make sure you register online here first.

Eli Stokols, FOX31′s political reporter, will moderate the conversation.

You can submit questions for candidates to answer by posting them on the KDVR website via Eli’s facebook page and twitter account.

If you aren’t able to attend, look for coverage at denverpost.com/education

As mail-in ballots head to Denver voters this week, the race for school board member representing northwest Denver continues to intensify.

A series of back and forth emails and newsletters have emerged between — not the candidates — but between a newly formed group, Latinos for Education Reform, and incumbent Arturo Jimenez.

One issue is the representation of the Latino population in Denver.

Latinos for Education reform, say they don’t want Latinos to vote with Latino candidates for the sake of a common ethnicity, but say they want to encourage more critical thinking about policy.

“No one person can claim to speak for the entire Latino community.

Our culture is far more rich and complex than any single individual, and encompasses multiple points of view.  This is a strength, not a weakness. Some people will agree with us, some will not.  But it is educational policy, and not personal identity, that needs to be at the center of both this discussion and the upcoming election.”

-Latinos for Education Reform in email release

Last week, as the group was launching full page ads criticizing Jimenez, and endorsing three other candidates, Jimenez said he firmly believes he represents all of the Latinos, and non-Latinos in Northwest Denver.

Jimenez has a supporter list with many prominent northwest Denver Latinos, including polictical leaders, Debbie Ortega, Lucia Guzman and Polly Baca — while the new group’s supporter list includes more Latinos from across the metro area, such as real estate investor and developer Stephanie Garcia; philanthropists Tim and Bernadette Marquez, and former city councilwoman Rosemary Rodriguez.

One LFER member, Myles Mendoza, has given reason for more back and forth Monday morning.

Mendoza, a board member for West Denver Prep schools, and national strategy director at Ed Reform Now, hosted a reception in May to support an organization, National School Choice Week. The organization at the time was applauding voucher approval in the Douglas County School District.

“Since the attacks started last week, I’ve said that the group claiming to speak for our neighborhoods was misrepresenting themselves. It turns out these attack ads are being pushed by pro-voucher individuals and special interest groups — not the North and West Denver community.”

-Arturo Jimenez, in Monday’s newsletter

One LFER member who has acted as spokesman for the group, Marco Abarca, said one member’s support for vouchers does not dictate the group’s agenda.

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