(1) Recover COVID learning losses and substantially improve student achievement results.
(2) Improve the financial management of our $1.4 billion school district and $800 million Capital Program.
(3) Improve Career and Technical Education and STEM Pathways that lead to well paying jobs for Jeffco graduates.
(4) Provide more effective mental health supports for students and staff.
(5) Expand the range of choices available to Jeffco parents so they can find the best fit for their children.
Links to My Published Articles
After the Pandemic, School District Strategy is More Important than Ever
Adding Ultraviolet Disinfection Systems to Schools’ COVID Defenses: A Background Briefing on many unresolved uncertainties.
Should We Force Children to Wear Masks Again When Schools Reopen? A Risk Analysis
My Response to Jeffco’s Public Health Order Mandating Masking of Students
Are We Ready to Close Schools' Windows?
COVID's Governance Challenges for School Boards
Hot Issues
Faced with a rapidly worsening financial crisis, on November 10, 2022, the Jeffco Board voted to close 16 elementary schools. You can read my speech here. And you can watch it here.
The decline in Colorado's NAEP results between 2011 and 2022 was shocking. As you can see from this analysis, our 8th graders lost about a year of Reading and more than a year in Math.
Jeffco's student achievement results are unacceptable, and I do not believe we are spending enough on recovering COVID learning losses.
Here is a detailed analysis of achievement results at every Jeffco district-run Articulation Area school.
Jeffco's Capital Program has many problems that the district has yet to address.
Read the Moss Adams report that describes them in painful detail.
While Jeffco's enrollment in district-run schools has been falling for years, staffing and pay levels have continued to increase. This year we will have to draw down about $30 million of reserves to cover our costs. We can no longer avoid the painful process of closing and consolidating schools.
About Me
Work at a firm that advises school districts across the nation on facilities, capital planning, finance, academic programming and achievement improvement
Began my career as a Ratings Officer at Standard and Poor's; later worked as a public sector investment banker at Kidder, Peabody
Former president of the Jefferson Association for Gifted Children
Worked at the University of Calgary's Center for Gifted Children
Former Chair of the Wheat Ridge HS Accountability Committee
Former member of Jeffco's Choice Committee and Diversity Council