This week's school budget news

Schools get good news, sort of

The last-minute budget deal reached by the Republican House and the Democratic Senate at midday Tuesday means the state’s schools will see $250 million in total program funding cuts, down from the previously projected $332 million, for 2011-12. That cut would be on top of the $260 million reduction schools received this year compared to 2009-10 levels. Read more in Education News Colorado.

Residents tackle Jeffco school budget cuts

Whacking nearly $40 million from Jefferson County Public Schools’ proposed budget last month proved no easy task. But the means to that end, believed to be unique in Colorado, introduced a consensus-building approach that participants say worked uncommonly well as a crisis-management tool and could become a model for future budget talks. Read more in the Denver Post.

Hinkley High protestors won’t be suspended

AURORA — About 100 students from Hinkley High school in Aurora walked out of class Monday morning to protest the layoffs of several teachers. Watch this 7NEWS report.

Colorado schools try to spare instruction as deep cuts loom

At the state Capitol, the governor talks about slashes to the K-12 education budget that would rev a chain saw to about $332 million. In a second-grade classroom, a teacher claps hands or snaps fingers to quiet 20 students — a trick of class management that will grow trickier next year, when his numbers increase by nearly half as a result of those cuts. Read more in the Denver Post.

Gunnison Valley school facing uncertain fate

Severe reductions in funding for the K-12 education system in Colorado hit home Monday night, as yet another round of proposed budgetary cutbacks includes the potential closure of the Gunnison Valley School. Read more in the Gunnison Times.

School buses circle Colo. Capitol to protest cuts

School buses from a Colorado Springs-area district have circled the state Capitol to make a statement about proposed education budget cuts.

About 50 buses from Falcon School District 49 circled the state Capitol on Thursday with messages for lawmakers considering cutting education funding. The messages included “NO CUTS” and “DRIVING OUR FUTURE.” Many other drivers honked at the buses, either in support or aggravation. Read this 9News report.

District proposes to close high school, programs to ease budget

GUNNISON — A local school district is considering closing an alternative high school, among other cuts, to help with their budgetary problems. Watch this 9News report.

Tax rebates or schools? Colorado budget hits impasse

Sometimes a little money comes with big problems, as Colorado lawmakers are finding out a week after hearing the state’s finances aren’t quite as bad as feared. Learn more at CBS4.

Boulder Valley schools luckier than many with budget cuts

The students in Helena Shirai’s German I class at Boulder High School respond to prompts by drawing objects onto a worksheet depicting a nearly empty room: The mat is in front of the door. The dog is on the floor. The lamp is above the window. Read more in the Daily Camera.

Twenty second-graders is a handful; what will 28 mean?

When the 20 children in his classroom start to wriggle and talk, teacher AJ Staniszewski asks for claps and finger snaps to get their attention. Some days he asks a time or two. Other days it’s just about every 90 seconds. Read more in the Denver Post.

Florence-area schools ask parents to supply copy paper

To next fall’s school-supplies shopping list, between the backpack and the box of Kleenex, parents in the Fremont Re-2 School District can add one more item: a ream of paper. Read more in the Denver Post.

One too many years of cuts

Proposed school budget reductions next year may be the cuts that really damage the state’s education system, students, teachers, administrators and others told legislators. The Senate Education Committee held a 3½ -hour hearing to take testimony from 40 witnesses on the effects of budget cuts expected in the 2011-12 school year. Read more in Education News Colorado.

Parents react to Jeffco school closings

Emotions flared at Martensen Elementary School Wednesday, during a community meeting about budget cuts and school closures. Watch this Fox 31 report.

Teachers, students tell Colo. lawmakers about cuts

Teachers, parents and schoolchildren are headed to the state Capitol to tell lawmakers from both parties about how looming budget cuts will hurt education. Watch this 9News report.

Parents, students try to save outdoor lab

Tylin Stiller looks around the Mount Evans Outdoor Lab School and appreciates the experience. She doesn’t want to be among the last to go through the historic program. “All of your classes are outside and it’s almost like a new classroom and a new learning experience,” Stiller, a sixth grader from Evergreen Middle School, said. Watch this 9News report.

Greeley-Evans school bus advertising efforts under way

Spot On Solutions is ramping up its efforts to get Greeley-Evans School District 6 buses as loaded on the outside as they are on the inside. For the Centennial-based company, however, that means advertisers. Read more in the Greeley Tribune.

Jeffco board accepts public comment; schedules budget forums

The Jefferson County Board of Education will hold public hearings on the proposed 2011-12 budget reductions on Tuesday, April 5, at 6 p.m. and Thursday, May 5 at 6 p.m. on the fifth floor of the Education Center, 1829 Denver West Dr. #27, in Golden. The public should note there is a two-minute time limit for individual speakers; groups of four or more commenting on the same subject have a five-minute time limit.

The district recently announced plans to cut nearly $40 million from the 2011-12 budget. To learn how to sign-up for public comment, visit the board’s website.

There are also public budget forums planned by the board of education in April. Board members will take questions and comments about the recent budget reduction proposal at the following locations:

Educators warn further Colorado cuts will gut schools

Teachers lined up in Colorado’s Capitol Thursday to give senators an earful about how looming budget cuts will hurt students, even as state economists warned that improving state finances won’t prevent education from being cut next year. Watch this 9News report.

DPS to add to school funding?

Denver Public Schools may actually add to its school funding next year if K-12 education is spared from more than $300 million in state cuts. Read more in the Denver Daily News.

Community raises $500,000 to save two schools

GRAND COUNTY, Colo. — A community group has raised $500,000 to save two elementary schools in Grand County. Watch this 7NEWS report.

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