JOANN KALENAK, SENIOR BLOGGER, DCCR — In an email response to a concerned citizen, Delta County School Board Member Linda Ewing wrote prior to members voting down Comprehensive Human Sexuality Education (CHSE), “This curriculum has never been approved by any of us. There are people who would like this particular curriculum but, as a Board, we are only researching as we should anything. There were just those who panicked, which has made us make decisions quicker than planned.”
The email, obtained through a CORA request, is dated May 20, 2021 at 1:32 PM, four and a half hours before school board members convened a regular meeting to hear constituent comments and conduct board business. The board’s final agenda listed a mysterious item entitled: Resolution #2021-15, which replaced an earlier — and equally mysterious — item entitled: Statement from the Board. To everyone’s surprise, the resolution turned out to be a unanimous vote against the implementation of CHSE in Delta County schools.
In another email, School Board Chair Jan Tuin assured another citizen “… we are planning to get community feedback before taking any further steps.” Further, Tuin emphatically told community members during the board’s April 18 regular meeting “… no decision has been made and no decision will be made until public input can be gathered.”
A tally of yeahs vs. nays among those in the community who contacted the school board on the topic of sex ed showed that 65% of interested parties opposed either all or some of the proposed sex ed curriculum. NOTE: DCCR has learned since submitting their CORA request for all correspondence between school board and staff, at least one letter (sent twice) was not included in the school board’s response.
New recycling program starts today
Delta County Commissioners recently contracted with Double J Recycling in Austin to replace county-run services at the North Fork Transfer Station. County residents can still recycle free of charge and will need to visit Double J at 21538 Austin Road or, for paper and cardboard only, they can visit a drop-off bin at:
• Cedaredge – Public Works building
• Delta – Post Office parking lot
• Hotchkiss – Farm Runners parking lot
Go to Double J’s website for directions to the new hub and see a full list of accepted items.
SB21-130 would boost the recycling and composting infrastructure in Colorado
While County Commissioners push recycling to a private vender, state legislators are looking at a bill that would allow local government to create a recycling enterprise fund similar to the county’s landfill and 911 emergency call businesses, which are managed by the county but run like a for-profit business.
FROM COLORADO CAPITOL WATCH — Senate Bill 21-180 creates the Colorado recycling and composting infrastructure enterprise within the department of public health and environment to develop and modernize the recycling and composting infrastructure in the state. The enterprise is authorized to issue revenue bonds.
The bill creates the Colorado recycling and composting infrastructure enterprise grant program (grant program) within the department to provide grants to eligible entities to:
• Create new or expand existing recycling, recovery, and
composting operations;
• Create markets for recycled materials, including the use of
food service packaging as feedstock in the production of
new products; and
• Facilitate recycling, composting, litter cleanup, and
education efforts concerning recycling and composting
practices.
Old Spanish Trail underdeveloped treasure
Chris Miller, executive director at Fort Uncompahgre Interpretive Center in Delta, told Delta County Commissioners about a plan to add more signage along the Old Spanish Trail to help call awareness to this historic trail. A Great Colorado Outdoor (GOCO) grant will help pay for the project. “We want people to connect the dots so that they know that they are on the Spanish Trail,” said Miller.
The Fork is a replica of the original built in 1828 and sits on the Old Spanish Trail. Displays look authentic from the dirt floors to the piles of furs and animals hides. A step back in time, visitors get a feel for life on the frontier where tribes and trappers exchanged furs for guns, knives, beads and more.