Early childhood development, workforce housing and high-speed Internet access are the three main economic development issues local government has decided in recent months to focus a concerted effort on solving.
At a joint work session held Tuesday morning between the Pagosa Springs Town Council and the Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners, BoCC Chairman Michael Whiting stopped short of characterizing the early childhood education issue as a crisis, but admitted it could become that in the near future if steps aren’t taken now.
Whiting began the meeting by asking Archuleta School District Superintendent Linda Reed to step up and take a seat at the table.
At the last joint meeting, Reed was volunteered to lead a group of interested stakeholders. The group has met twice since then and Reed reported that the group worked to identify the problem and brainstorm possible solutions to bring back to the two local governments.
At its first meeting, on Sept. 22, the group reviewed a report called “Pre-K Education in Archuleta County,” which was prepared for the Seeds of Learning preschool by Garry Lassman, JD; Pat McKenzie, Ph.D.; Richard Richardson, Ph.D.; David Smith, Ph.D.; and Fred Uehling, CPA.
Then, on Oct. 5, the group looked at the model being used in Denver.
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