NORTH FORK TIMES
SURFACE CREEK NEWS
SPORTS
EARLY CHRISTMAS
HOLIDAY CHEER
PANTHERS PREVAIL
Foundation commits $100,000 to North Fork’s ‘heart and soul’, B1
Volunteers hand out 275 holiday food boxes, C1
Delta boys, girls claim titles at Bank of the West tournament, B5
DELTA COUNTY
DECEMBER 21, 2011 VOL. 128, NO. 51
75¢
INDEPENDENT
www.deltacountyindependent.com
District curriculum effort creates anxiety BY PAT SUNDERLAND Managing Editor
By a 3-2 vote, the Delta County School Board last week voted to put curriculum implementation in the hands of building principals. The vote ran contrary to a strong recommendation from superintendent Mike McMillan to keep the curriculum effort moving forward, and prompted an executive session Dec. 20 to iron out philosophical differences between the superintendent and the school board. The curriculum initiative was launched last summer with the goal of ensuring that every student at every grade level, regardless of school or community, is being taught the same core state standards at the same time. Curriculum development began with the identification of those state standards and has progressed to writing lesson plans that identify priority outcomes for each unit and include a pacing guide, vocabulary, pre-tests and post-tests, activities, resources and suggestions for getting the message across to kids who struggle to pick up the “big idea.” Enrichment activities are included for kids who have already mastered the concepts. At the Dec. 13 school board meeting, Connie Vincent, director of curriculum and assessment, presented an example of a unit that’s already being taught at Garnet Mesa Elementary School. Teachers can follow the template as outlined, or they can modify the lesson plan as they see fit. “We don’t want them to be cookie cutters,” Vincent said.
“Teachers can choose other activities as long as they stay with the pacing guide and teach the priority outcomes.” Half the teaching staff has been involved in the curriculum development process to date, which includes 363 units of instruction at the elementary, middle and high school levels. In January, the curriculum development process is scheduled to go “live” across the district as every teacher puts one of the completed units to the test. The final step in the process is revision and editing, an outcome of the classroom experience. Although the process has been time consuming, Vincent said the completed units will be valuable tools that will enable teachers to spend their planning time determining how to help individual students gain proficiency with the subject, instead of trying to come up with instructional resources. But some teachers believe the January rollout is “too much, too soon.” The message from a recent meeting of the teachers’ Coordinating Council is that the stress of the planning is being transferred from the teachers to their students. Coordinating council president Paul Beller said the teachers are concerned about the quality and validity of the units, the length of pre- and post-tests, and the editing/ revision process. At the direction of the school board, district administration conducted an informal survey to see if teachers and administration preferred to delay the timeline of the curriculum implementation from January
GOCO awards Delta $175,000 The Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) board has awarded the City of Delta a $175,000 GOCO/Lottery grant to develop an open space park with trails, river access, a boat launch, and a fishing lake on a property purchased by the city earlier this year. In August 2011, the City of Delta purchased a 56acre parcel adjacent to the Gunnison River, and located between Confluence and Cottonwood parks. Once developed, the property will adjoin the parks and their respective trail systems, providing 13 miles of uninterrupted trail access in Delta. Additionally, the property will provide public river access. While expanding the city’s outdoor recreational oppor-
INDEX Accent ........................... A4 Activities ......................A11 Agriculture .....................C5 Back Page ................... D8 Business .......................A12 Church ............................C4 Classifieds .................. D1-2 Editorial ......................... A2 Health & Fitness ...... A8-10 Legals ......................... D3-4 North Fork Times ........B1-4 Obituaries ..................... A7 School Zone .................. A5 Sports ..........................B5-8 Surface Creek News ...C1-3 TV Listings ................. D5-6
tunities, the development of the property will also result in new environmental education opportunities for local schools and youth groups. The grant is part of $5.9 million in GOCO/Lottery funds awarded to 27 projects throughout the state. The projects will enhance outdoor recreation opportunities, create plans for future projects, and protect approximately 2,447 acres of open space. GOCO received 78 eligible applications requesting $15.4 million for its fall 2011 grant cycle. Since 1994, more than 3,400 projects in all 64 counties have received GOCO funding. Projects in Delta County have received approximately $5.7 million in GOCO grants.
until August 2012. The survey was completed by over 300 teachers, with 53 saying the district should move forward with the January timeline. After hearing the concerns of the teachers, school board president Tom Mingen suggested the focus shift from the district to the buildings. He said the principals, not the district office, are in the best position to understand the pressures the teachers are under. If the principal decides his or her building should move forward with the January timeline, that’s fine; if not, they can wait until August. “The new state standards are taking people out of their comfort zones,” said school board member Tammy Smith, who added that the teachers will still be facing uncertainty in August. School board member Kathy Svenson said she doesn’t believe asking each teacher to try one unit should create too much anxiety. CURRICULUM TO A3
Picture perfect Chyann Atwood and her dog Snickers had their photo taken during a two-day event to benefit the Delta County Humane Society’s foster program. The event was held at Little Creatures Pets in Delta.
County will endorse Koch’s land swap BY HANK LOHMEYER Staff Writer
The Board of County Commissioners will write a letter endorsing the Central Rockies Land Exchange, also known as the Bear Ranch Land Exchange. The BoCC announced the decision during its regular business meeting on Dec. 19. The board was visited by three constituents who oppose the deal. Sam Brown of Paonia submitted a letter in opposition. He told the commissioners that several different aspects of the exchange “don’t make sense” and create a “bad deal for Delta County.” Doug Gill of Paonia also presented the commissioners with a letter in opposition. Gary Volk of Eckert who ranches in the land exchange area said he was representing the views of 20 area landowners who attended a Dec. 16 meeting on the proposed exchange. His group is particularly opposed to expected impacts on water quality from more recreational use in a narrow strip of land located “under Ragged Mountain.” Volk’s group had “strong opposition” to a Gunnison County plan for an additional, parallel recreation trail in the area. “The existing trail is adequate and functioning,” Volk said. The Delta BoCC agrees with Volk’s group on the trail issue. In their endorsement letter the commissioners will oppose the parallel trail. The commis-
Arrests made for vandalism The Delta Police Department has arrested two individuals believed to be responsible for breaking into several vehicles and damaging 10 businesses along Main Street, Meeker Street and Highway 92 with a BB gun Dec. 13. Items removed from the vehicles had an estimated $1,200 value. The damage to the businesses exceeds $1,500. Derek Quintana, 18, of Montrose and Mauricio R. Torres, 18, of Olathe were arrested and charged
Photo submitted
with 13 counts of first degree criminal trespass, theft and criminal mischief. A warrant for the arrest of Emmanuel Rodriguez, 18, of Olathe has been issued. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Emmanuel Rodriguez is encouraged to contact the Delta Dispatch Center at 874-2015. The Delta County Sheriff’s Office, Montrose County Dispatch Center and Olathe Police Department assisted with the investigation.
sioners are against the idea of federal legislation creating a new trail on local public lands which are managed by a local agency travel management process. Potential impacts on grazing and wildlife habitat posed by the parallel trail were also a concern. Commissioner Doug Atchley said he wanted the county letter to specify that the federal mineral estate remain in federal hands, and that all aspects of the proposed exchange be subject to current Colorado water law. Commissioner Olen Lund said he wanted the county to
have a chance to comment on the draft legislation that Bear Ranch owner Bill Koch will submit to Congress effecting the proposed exchange. Lund also said he was unwilling to hold off on the letter until after a Paonia meeting next month. “The county hosted an information meeting at the courthouse. What the Town of Paonia does is up to Paonia,” he said. Commission chair Bruce Hovde said the BoCC has been asked specifically by Sen. Michael Bennet’s office to state its position on the proposed land swap issue.
Two vote against DMEA increase BY HANK LOHMEYER Staff Writer
A majority of the DMEA Board of Directors at theirmeeting Dec. 13 approved new electric rates that will increase residential users’ monthly base charge for electricity by over 60 percent — from $15 to $25. Voting against the rate proposal were board members Brent Hines and Terry Brown. Voting in favor of the new rate plan were board members Ed Marston, Marshal Collins, Ken Norris, Mike Sramek, and Nancy Hovde. Board president Tony Prendergast votes in event of a tie,
and Glen Black was absent from the meeting. The new rates provide some small decreases for electric usage charges to residential customers. But, as explained at DMEA’s public rate proposal hearings held during November, the usage rate decreases will not offset the monthly base charge increase. Therefore, DMEA’s members are likely in most cases to see an overall increase in their electric bills. The rate adjustments to be put into place in January 2012 is in response to an impending rate increase from Tri-State, DMEA’s wholesale power provider.
Unemployment improves A survey conducted by the Colorado Department of Employment reveals that the unemployment rate in Delta County increased in November 2011, but is well below the unemployment rate recorded in November 2010. According to the survey of households, the unemployment rate increased one-tenth of a percentage point to 7.7 percent from October to November. The state unemployment rate is 8.0 percent. The national unemployment rate declined four-tenths of one percentage point over the same period to 8.6 percent. Over the year, the unemployment rate is down ninetenths of one percentage point from 8.9 percent in November 2010. During that same time period, Delta County recorded an unemployment rate of 9.3 percent.