School News: School Finance Act Introduced; Projected District-Level Funding Summaries Available

Students at Landmark academy at reunion celebrate first annual latin culture week

Landmark Academy at Reunion , a tuition-free public charter school, recently hosted their First Annual Latin Culture Week, a week focused on educating students on the various aspects of Latin culture, from music and art to sports and celebrities, through unique activities. During the week-long celebration, students were able to step into the lives of the Aztecs, Incas and Mayans with Latin culture lessons through piñata making, cultural crafts, songs, traditional foods and more. Students made maracas and learned a traditional Mexican Hat Dance; created Aztec suns working with metal tooling; and studied different countries in Mexico , Central America and South America . Aztec dancers from the Colorado Folk Arts Council also visited with students and educated them on the spiritual and traditional aspects of Aztec culture through dance. “We reside in a community with strong Latin and Hispanic roots,” said Matt Carlton, principal of Landmark Academy at Reunion . “Our community culture is important to us at Landmark. By providing unique ways for our students to learn the various backgrounds of our diverse community they are able to understand and appreciate different cultures.” For more information about Landmark Academy at Reunion , please visit www.landmarkacademy.org.

April 06, 2011

School Finance Act Introduced; Projected District-Level Funding Summaries Available

The Colorado Department of Education’s public school finance office today published projected district funding summaries for the 2011-2012 year based on the School Finance Act, which was formally introduced in the Colorado State Legislature late Tuesday (April 5).

The projections are available on the CDE Web site at this link: http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdefinance/SchoolFinanceFundingFY2011-12.htm

Senate Bill 11-230 reduces last year’s original appropriation by $250 million. In the bill, base per-pupil funding is increased for inflation by 1.9 percent.

The proposed legislation is not final until approved by the Colorado Senate, the Colorado House of Representatives and signed by the governor.

The proposed bill accounts for changes in pupil counts, assessed valuations, at-risk students and revenue from specific ownership taxes. The pupil counts also include a projection for students in the ASCENT program, which provides for instruction in college-level classes beyond the senior year.

A complete legislative summary of S.B.11-230 is available here:

http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdefinance/LegislativeSummariesFY2011-12.htm

The complete bill is available here:

http://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2011a/csl.nsf/fsbillcont/6AD5F12621896F2D8725784000679532?Open&file=230_01.pdf