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Show EDUCATION The Park Record. Editor: Douglas Greenwood cducation@parkrccord.com 435.649.9014 ex. 124 EDUCATION FOUNDATION HOLDS PHONE-A-THON The Park City Education Foundation will hold its annual phone-a-thon Monday, Jan. 3 1 , through Friday, Feb. 4, t o help raise money for teacher grants, online learning, scholarships and programs throughout the school district. Donations can be made online at pcef4kids.org. PCEF is also asking parents in the school district to volunteer before, during or after. For information or to volunteer, contact PCEF at 435615-0235 or pcef@pcschools.us. ACT COURSE PREPARATION AVAILABLE AT U OF U The ACT preparatory course is designed to help students identify their strengths and weaknesses, become familiar with and practice all question types found on the ACT. It offers strategies to increase mathematical, reading, English and science reasoning skills. Multiple class locations are available this spring, beginning Feb. 8. Classes will be held in Sandy, South Jordan, Salt Lake, Bountiful and Park City. FULL-DAY KINDERGARTEN OPENS REGISTRATION Registration for the Park City School District 2011-12 extended-day kindergarten program will begin Monday, Feb. 7, and will run through Monday, Feb. 28. Registration forms will be available soon, according to the district community education department. The program is scheduled to be available at the four elementary schools. Because the program will be funded through tuition, a minimum number of confirmed registrants is needed by the deadline in order to offer the program at every school. Please see Briefs, A-11 ; A-10 www.parkrecord.co/ WED/THURS/FRI, JANUARY 26-28, 2011 Changes made in district policy Park City school board extends discrimination protection to LGBT By DOUGLAS GREENWOOD of the Record Staff Park City School District students and employees who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender can now enjoy protection from discrimination and harassment at school following a recent policy amendment that was approved by the Board of Education Tuesday, Jan. 18. Board members expanded the district-wide harassment and discrimination policy by prohibiting any conduct based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The applied changes affect conduct that is prohibited on district property as well as in hiring practices. "It sends a message that our school district values all people, regardless," Park City Education Association President Heidi Matthews said. "It's a safe, inclusive place for students as well as employees." In response to outreach and requests from various community members, the board began considering amendments to the policy early in the school year, board president Maurice Hickey said. The policy discussion followed the example of the Salt Lake City School District, which recently adopted an anti-bias policy. About 11 municipalities throughout Utah have adopted similar antidiscrimination laws or policies, according to Kathy Godwin of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. But she said the state still has a long way to go before equality prevails. Nearly 44 percent of Utahns who identify themselves as part of the lesbian, gay and bisexual community, as well as almost two-thirds of self-identified transgender residents, reported they have experienced discrimination in the workplace, according to a recent study released by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law. The results come from a 2010 survey conducted by Equality Utah, an equal rights advocacy group. Adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the state's existing non-discrimination law would be beneficial for employees and employers, while not overburdening the administrative system, according to the study. With a number of requests from community members and district employees interested in partner benefits for same-sex couples, the school board began looking into the district's discrimination and harassment policy. The Park City School District policy committee initially moved to include the phrase, "sexual orientation," which would prohibit any discrimination based on how a student or employee expresses attraction. After consulting with Equality Utah as well as the University of Utah legal department, Hickey suggested including the phrase, "gender identity" before the policy was adopted Tuesday night. The proposed addition spurred hesitation from board members Lisa Kirchenhciter and Charles Cunningham, who said they were concerned that the change in wording constituted a substantive change and may need to be approved by the policy committee. Cunningham said he was unsure of what the phrase meant because it Please see Policy, A-11 Public-education bills prominent this year Proposed legislation focuses largely on lack of education funding By DOUGLAS GREENWOOD of the Record Staff With the 2011 Utah Legislature currently underway. Park City School District board of education members as well as administrators are paying close attention to proposed statutes. "The biggest issue that we are concerned with is the budget," Park City school board president Maurice Hickey said. According to a Legislative Fiscal Analysis released Jan. 11, the state will need to make up a nearly $650 million gross budget deficit this year. The majority of the shortfall comes from the $313 million "structural deficit," a sum that comes from onetime funds that were used last year to finance ongoing programs. About $150 million of that deficit comes from a combination of enrollment growth for the 2010-11 school year, which went unfunded, and the projected surge of almost 15,000 students who will enter the school system this fall. Schools across Utah have seen average enrollment increases of about 13,000-14,000 students per year for a number of years, according to Patrick Ogden of the Park City School District. Medicaid ($90 million), retirement ($41 million), health insurance ($38 million) and state bonds ($15 million) make up the remainder of the deficit. With about $215 million in expected income and sales tax revenue coming in, the net budget hole could be as much as $437 million, according to figures released by the Legislative Fiscal Analyst. "It's unlikely legislators will go back to fund the deficit from new students from this year [2010-11]," Ogden said. "They quote that number, in my opinion, in order to create a larger sense of need or deficiency in the budget-a greater problem-in order to lower expectations in meeting the budget." Legislative subcommittees are recommending state-government agencies cut approximately 7 percent of their budget, according to Hickey. d "They want to bring everything back to revenues equaling expenditures," he said. Utah Governor Gary Herbert recently proposed an almost $12 billion budget recommendation for the fiscal year that begins in July. The proposal places an emphasis on public-education funding, with a specific focus on the need to fund incoming students. But with such a large budget hole to fill, legislators may look at cutting education funding rather than building it. "I think the governor's budget recommendations tend to give the legislature options on how to set the budget for the coming year," Ogden said. Even a decision to maintain last year's spending levels would force school districts to do the same job with fewer resources. Not funding incoming students would have the same impact as a cut for the second year in a row, Hickey said. With the need to find alternative ways to fund education, a number of Senators and Representatives are proposing bills that would bolster revenue. "There seems to be a general consensus that General Ed. needs to receive additional funding," Ogden said. Rep. Jim Bird, R-West Jordan, is sponsoring House Bill 199, which would allow school districts to sell advertising on school bus exteriors. Please see Education, A-11 Let us take care of the Edibles. The arrangement to ' W O W " your guests. 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