Colorado STEM School Receives Five-Year Contract Renewal

Colorado STEM School Receives Five-Year Contract Renewal

STEM School Highlands Ranch received a conditional five-year renewal of its charter on Saturday. The board can shorten the contract to three years if the school fails to meet certain conditions.

  • By Kaitlyn DeHaven
  • July 02, 2019

STEM School Highlands Ranch, a Colorado school where a shooting occurred on May 7, received a conditional five-year renewal of its charter on Saturday. The school has almost 1,600 K-12 students, and teaches them science and technology through creative approaches.

This charter will require the school to meet certain reporting, staffing, and safety requirements, such as the hiring of additional security personnel. The contract was approved by the Douglas County Board of Education and STEM School Highlands Ranch officials. The vote was unanimous.

“My consideration is how to make sure that the STEM students (are) safe),” board member Kevin Leung said.

The contract calls for a five-year charter renewal, but the board can shorten it to three years if the school fails to meet certain conditions including teach and mental health employee numbers that meet district staff-to-student ratios, transparency requirements for meetings and financial policies, and up-to-date training of administration and mental health professionals.

The school must also contract with local law-enforcement agencies for a school resource officer who will be assigned to the high school program, in addition to a private security officer for the middle school and elementary school programs.

There will also be staff training in threat and safety assessments and a requirement for the school to review safety assessment data each semester, according to 13 WTHR.

In terms of transparency, the district must notify the school about any complaints the district receives, and STEM must promptly investigate the complaint.

The board can revoke the contract at any time if the terms are broken.

About the Author

Kaitlyn DeHaven is the Associate Content Editor for the Infrastructure Solutions Group at 1105 Media.

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