Week of September 8, 2022
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An edition of the Littleton Independent A publication of
VOLUME 21 | ISSUE 42
Centennial Hospital opens wound care center Acute, chronic wounds treated BY TAYLER SHAW TSHAW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
About a year after its opening, Centennial Hospital welcomed a new addition — a wound care center aimed at offering coordinated treatment to heal wounds and address any potential underlying medical conditions. “We will be serving the Centennial community with wound care needs, and that can range from anything from traumatic to chronic diseases, creating breaks in the skin or creating wounds,” said Marissa Baird, the outpatient wound care and hyperbarics manager. According to the hospital, the wound care center evaluates and treats both acute and chronic wounds such as ulcers, non-healing surgical incisions and radiation therapy burns. The center also offers care for ostomy, which Cleveland Clinic’s website defines as a SEE HOSPITAL, P28
Some say it is not enough BY ROBERT TANN RTANN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
of students met or exceeded expectations for English. That’s about a 3 percentage-point decrease from 2019. For math, across all grades that took the test, 32% met or exceeded expectations, representing a 3 percentage-point drop from 2019. In Cherry Creek School District, across all grades that took the test, 49% of students met or exceeded expectations for English — about a 1 percentagepoint decrease from 2019.
Following the Biden administration’s Aug. 24 announcement of a sweeping plan to reform the student loan process for millions of federal borrowers, local educators said they see both benefits and challenges lying ahead. The proposal, one of Joe Biden’s chief promises during his 2020 presidential election campaign, could eliminate student debt entirely for nearly half of all borrowers, according to an analysis by the education department, which estimates 43 million Americans have federal student loans. It seeks to do this by forgiving $10,000 of federal debt for all borrowers making no more than $75,000 per year — and no more than $250,000 for married couples — and up to $20,000 for borrowers who receive Pell Grants. It will also cap monthly payments at 5% of a borrower’s income and eliminate accrued interest for borrowers making monthly payments, even when that payment is $0. Taken together, these reforms could make it easier and faster for the bulk of students to pay off their debt, educators said. “This is going to make that burden less severe,” said Ariel Mendez, director of financial aid at Arapahoe Community College. “This is a step, it’s not everything, but it’s definitely a step.” Since Biden unveiled the plan, Mendez has been fielding calls from
SEE SCHOOLS, P8
SEE DEBT, P6
Marissa Baird, left, and Sara Pierce, right, stand in the Centennial Hospital Wound PHOTO BY TAYLER SHAW Care Center.
Cherry Creek outperforms statewide test scores Numbers still behind 2019 BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Cherry Creek School District’s 2022 standardized test scores outstripped the statewide performance but didn’t escape the troubling trend of test scores falling below 2019 numbers. State officials celebrated student scores faring better in most cases than they did in 2021, the Colorado Department of Education said in a news release.
Biden’s student debt relief plan met with mixed reactions
“But we continue to face the challenge of fully bringing kids back to the levels they were before the disruptions of the pandemic as well as closing the historic opportunity and achievement gaps,” Katy Anthes, Colorado’s education commissioner, said in the news release. She added: “With support from the COVID relief funds targeted at addressing lost learning opportunities, I’m confident we will continue our rebound.” Statewide, across all grades that took the Colorado Measures of Academic Success test, 43%
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