Westsider
North Jeffco
North Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 12, Issue 34
POSTAL PATRON
August 30,2013
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourwestminsternews.com
WILD ANIMALS
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inBloom debate blossoms Parents vocal in concern about pros and cons of system By Vic Vela
vvela@ourcoloradonews.com
Circus performers perform during the Westminster Promenade’s Summer Concert Series Bella Luna Cirque show on Aug. 14. Hundreds of people came out to the show to watch jungle animals come to life. The Westminster Promenade is at U.S. 36 and Church Ranch Road in Westminster. Photo by Ashley Reimers
Recreational options anchored at lake By Ashley Reimers
areimers@ourcoloradonews.com Editor’s Note: This is the second story of a three-part series highlighting the recreation opportunities at Standley Lake Regional Park in Westminster. The first story focused on the history of the park and the final story will focus on educational opportunities. Stocked regularly with walleye, wiper, trout and bass Standley Lake offers fishermen year-round fishing along the shoreline as well as boat fishing May through September. The lake is also the Colorado state record-holder for the largest walleye, 18 pounds, caught in 1997 by angler Scott Regan. Standley Lake Regional Park in Westminster at 100th Avenue and Simms Street, offers much more than just great fishing. The park offers hiking, biking, camping, power boating, kayaking, paddle boating and wildlife viewing. And for those who own power boats, the lake offers recreational opportunities, like water skiing and tubing, without the hassle of an overpopulated park. Because the lake is a water source, there are limitations to how much recreational use can be done in the water. Part of those limitations is a limit on how many power boats are allowed on the lake. Each year the park issues 550 power boat permits and each year those permits sell out. The reason for the permits is to maintain a high level of water quality in the lake, said Mike Happe, Utilities Planning and Engineering Manager for the city of Westminster. “The lake is the main source of water for Westminster and is a big water supply for both Northglenn and Thornton, so keeping the water quality very high is a priority,” he said. “Because of this, we also don’t allow swimming in the lake because having less human body contact in the water creates an even bigger barrier in terms of protecting the quality of the water.” Along with obtaining a permit, each boat must also sprayed down and quaran-
Camping at two campgrounds is offered May through September at Standley Lake Regional Park in Westminster. The campgrounds featured two permanent bathrooms with outdoor showers, volleyball courts and horse shoe pits. The main campground accommodates campers, trailers and tents, with several sites along the waterside. Camping is based on a first-come, first-serve basis with no reservations. Camping on holiday weekends is only offered to the season permit holders, not the general public. Photo by Ashley Reimers tined for 15 days before entering the water to comply with the park’s Aquatic Nuisance Species, ANS, program. The ANS program is an effort to keep zebra and quagga mussels from infesting the water. Mark Reddinger, lake operations manager, said when a boat is clear to enter the water the boat and the trailer is tagged. Boats who have entered another lake or reservoir must go through the spray process and quarantine again, he added. “When we first started this program we did get some backlash, but now people have accepted the program. Because of our permit program, we have less people and boats in the lake, which people really enjoy,” he said. “We have some people who store their boats here in the park all summer and come out every weekend. Many of those people we’ve seen for years and end up getting to know them pretty well.” Standley Lake is also a non-alcoholic and jet ski-free park, which Reddinger also
says is a benefit. “We know there is alcohol out there, but because it’s not allowed it makes people check themselves if they choose to drink alcohol,” he said. “And because we don’t have jet skis on the water, people feel the lake is a lot safer.” The lake isn’t just home to power boaters, but also people in non-motorized boats, kayaks, canoes and paddle boats. Just recently the park designated a section of the lake just to these types of vessels and senior ranger Holly Walters said she’s already seen a jump in the number people taking advantage of the opportunity. “The designated area of the lake for nonmotorized vessels is the north west corner and is a pretty big chunk of the lake,” Walters said. “It’s a really nice amenity for people to come out and not have to worry Lake continues on Page 23
Parents packed a feisty Jefferson County Public Schools Board of Education meeting Aug. 22 to hear the pros and cons of a student data gathering system that the district is expected to pilot sometime next year. Supporters hailed the system, called inBloom, as a long-timecoming classroom enhancement intended to help teachers better tailor instruction through a centralized student database. But inBloom detractors are concerned primarily about the privacy and security of children’s school Stevenson records and personal information, and how the new system might end up mining and utilizing that data. It was clear which side of the issue the majority of the audience was on, judging from their often boisterous reactions to comments that were made by a panel of education experts. “If this is a great idea, and there are really are no privacy concerns, give the parents the right to choose whether their children take part,” said Barmak Nassirian of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, through audience applause. Nassirian participated in the panel via video from Washington D.C. He was one of several panelists to give their opinions of inBloom, a $100 million system that is being funded primarily by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. inBloom will provide the “middleware” in a data dashboard system that will collect student information in a single database that supporters believe will better assist teachers in developing a specific curricula for individuals in the classroom. Colorado is one of only three states to pilot inBloom, with Jeffco being the lone district in the state expected to try it out, beginning in the 2014-2015 school year. The program will not cost Jeffco anything until 2015, if it chooses to continue using the system after the pilot project. After that, the cost to the 86,000 student district will be $3 to $5 per student. The system has been the subject of controversy across the U.S., as some states that initially had committed to pilot the system ended up backing out because of privacy and security concerns. inBloom is capable of storing demographic information, such as race, economic status and other metrics. However, the district is adamant that the dashboard will only include data fields that are relevant to academics.
‘Critical’ need or ‘too few safeguards?’
Panelists that included David Millard, a fifth-grade teacher at Jeffco’s Webber Elementary School, touted the dashboard’s
Debate continues on Page 23
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