News in Brief
GLENWOOD SPRINGS ” Brett Gies has left his job as the assistant superintendent for the Roaring Fork School District after one year on the job.
Next year, Gies will be superintendent of Sioux County Schools in Harrison, Neb.
According to Gies, he had been unable to sell his house in Santa Fe, N.M., because of the economic downturn in the real estate market. He said he did not feel financially able to relocate to the Roaring Fork Valley.
“I decided to turn this misfortune into an opportunity for career advancement,” he said.
Gies noted that he was disappointed to leave his post, calling it a sound school district comprised of outstanding educators “who truly enjoy educating the whole child.”
He also praised district staff, saying that he was a better educator for having known them, and he called superintendent Judy Haptonstall a “dedicated and visionary leader.”
“I truly believe that if you are lucky enough to live in the Roaring Fork Valley and to work in the RFSD, you are lucky enough,” Gies said.
The Roaring Fork School District, headquartered, in Glenwood Springs, includes schools in Basalt, Carbondale and Glenwood.
BASALT ” Basalt Middle School was the site this past weekend of about $200 worth of criminal mischief, in the form of punctured ceiling tiles.
The incident followed an episode several weeks ago in which several people allegedly stole fare from the Basalt Elementary School cafeteria and removed a Colorado state flag from the flagpole, police said.
Basalt police don’t know how the perpetrators entered or exited Basalt Middle School over the weekend, Sgt. Roderick O’Connor said. The building was locked on Friday and found still locked on Monday.
Although a group of adults and children used the building over the weekend, O’Connor does not believe they were involved, because of the number of adults that were present.
Several weeks ago, numerous people appeared to have entered the Basalt Elementary School by climbing onto the roof and breaking in through a ceiling access point.
They entered the cafeteria and ate soda, yogurt, string cheese and candy ” then left. The remains of their feast, which they did not clean up, indicate that approximately three or four persons were involved. The building sustained no damage, though spilled soda was left on the floor.
The Colorado flag also was removed from the flagpole. The American flag was left flying.
“That’s probably hanging on somebody’s bedroom wall,” O’Connor said. “That would probably be a good clue as to who did it.”
Police have since secured the roof access point.
Asked if there was an increase in local criminal mischief during the summer, O’Connor said there was “probably a little.”
“There’s just more kids out and about and not a lot of structured time and, you know, kids are just kids,” he said.
ASPEN ” A funeral mass for John Morgan Oakes, who passed away April 15, 2008, will take place at 10 a.m. Friday, June 27, at St. Mary Catholic Church in Aspen.
