Wellington school growth committee set to meet
By Gary Raham
Wellington Correspondent
A 21-member advisory committee that will help Poudre School District decide
how to cope with a growing school population in the Wellington area will
hold its first meeting this month.
Mike Spearnak, PSD's director of planning, design and construction, also
reported that a facilitator has been selected for the school growth committee.
Meetings are set for Nov. 12 and 19, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Leeper
Center. Spearnak said the public is invited to attend these meetings as
"a fly on the wall" and give their comments to committee members after
the meeting.
The public will also have the opportunity to provide additional input -
most likely in late November or early December.
The committee process, atypical for PSD school construction projects, grew
out of Wellington-area concerns about school overcrowding raised last spring
at two PSD/community meetings. Area residents hope to recommend construction
plans that will preserve the small community character of the schools while
using the educational resources of a large district.
The district chose Maggie Carter as its professional facilitator. Carter,
at various times in her career, has been an educator, organizational development
consultant and human resources director, as well as a trainer of other
facilitators. A brief outline of her background can be found at www.nccoaches.org.
The initial plan was to include three Wellington attendance area community
members and three Wellington attendance area parents - one from Eyestone
Elementary, one from Tavelli Elementary and one from Wellington Junior
High. In all, 12 people applied before the Oct. 6 deadline, some from each
category. Carter said she would have no problem working with this number
of people, so the district will accept all who applied, assuming they can
make the meetings. Carter will interview each member prior to the meeting
to determine their backgrounds and which factions they represent.
The committee will also include John Karbula and Alicia Durand, principals
of Eyestone Elementary and Wellington Junior High, respectively; Spearnak;
one board of education director; and Jim Sarchet, assistant superintendent
of business services, or Bill Franzen from PSD operations.
The committee will present its final plan at a December meeting of the
board of education.
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