School administrators anticipate near-universal attendance in free, full-day kindergarten this fall, a state survey found, which would blow a $40 million hole in the budget Colorado lawmakers set for the first year of the new program. In the last school year, 36 of the Colorado’s 178 school districts had students enrolled in half-day kindergarten programs, […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, Education, News
STEM School, site of fatal shooting, secures five-year charter renewal after contentious battle
STEM School Highlands Ranch on Saturday received a five-year charter renewal from the Douglas County School Board, though the institution is subject to a two-year compliance review to determine whether it has addressed safety concerns heightened by last month’s fatal shooting. Douglas County School Superintendent Thomas Tucker will review the school’s operations after two years. […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, Education, News, Politics and Government
Lawmakers reject Polis’ $3 million budget request, but agree to bolster threat training after STEM shooting
Lawmakers on Wednesday rejected Gov. Jared Polis’ request that they free up $3 million to hire more mental health professionals in schools, but agreed to spend $407,000 extra on training school administrators on how to conduct threat assessments. The Polis administration said in budget requests that the money was needed for both training and more […]
Posted inEducation, News
STEM School has until June 29 to allay concerns and secure extended charter reauthorization
STEM School Highlands Ranch has until the end of June to resolve conflicts with the Douglas County School Board and avoid a year-long discussion over safety concerns that could delay renewal of the charter for the school where one student was killed and eight were injured last month in a shooting If no agreement is […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, Education, News
Douglas County School Board may put STEM School, site of fatal shooting, on short leash
The Douglas County School Board may put the STEM School Highlands Ranch on a short leash amid concerns over safety and security in the wake of last month’s fatal shooting attack at the school. The school board will vote on a resolution Tuesday night that would allow the school to remain open on a provisional […]
Posted inEducation, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s kindergarten landscape will even out, with benefits flowing to state’s wealthiest, poorest families
A decade ago, when Colorado officials surveyed school districts about then-Gov. Bill Ritter’s big idea to put full-day kindergarten in every school, support wasn’t unanimous. School administrators in Telluride, one of the state’s wealthier resort towns, were dismissive of the full-day kindergarten priority from the governor back then, according to the survey conducted by the […]
Posted inColoradans, Crime and Courts, Education, News
The school at the center of Colorado’s latest mass shooting is a refuge for gifted, tech-savvy kids who sometimes didn’t fit in elsewhere
As Colorado marked the 20th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting last month, Shannon Owens considered herself grateful that her two sons attend a school she thought was the last place likely to see such violence. “I was like, ‘I don’t even worry about that stuff with this school,’” said Owens, mom of a […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, Education, News
STEM School Highlands Ranch didn’t have school resource deputy because of disagreement with sheriff’s office
No school resource officer was on hand to patrol the hallways of the STEM School Highlands Ranch when Tuesday’s deadly shooting occurred because of a dispute last year between school officials and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Tony Spurlock released details of the clash late Friday afternoon, including documents related to it. In a […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, Education, News
Anonymous complaint alleged issues at STEM School months before deadly shooting. Officials say it was uncorroborated.
An anonymous complaint nearly five months before a deadly shooting at the STEM School Highlands Ranch alleged that a “high-pressure environment” made it susceptible to an attack like the ones that happened at Columbine and Arapahoe high schools. The complaint, which came in a phone call to Douglas County School District Board of Education Director […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Deadly attack on STEM School — by two suspected shooters — is rare among school shootings
The shootings at the STEM School at Highlands Ranch stood out in one important respect from other school shootings, according to experts who study the psychology of mass shooters. Two suspects are accused of acting in coordination on Tuesday. The vast majority of school shootings are committed by a lone gunman. Only two team shooters […]