GRANTS, NM – The Grants Cibola-County School District Board of Education Meeting held on September 17, 2024, accomplished a tight agenda.
After discerning there was the necessary quorum present to be able to vote on school business there were no changes to the agenda as it was presented to board members, Mr. Sandoval, Mr. T. Walter Jaramillo, Mr. Ronald Ortiz, and Mrs. Francie Lee. Board members Ms. Emily Hunt-Daily, and Dr. Guy Archambeau were also present.
To open the meeting, recognitions, and an award were given to three distinguished GCCS employees. The awards representing outstanding and caring service by an educator were presented by Mr. Lane Widner, Board of Education Superintendent.
Ms. Amy Ray, Principal at Mesa View for last three years was called an “education champion” and was presented the SEL (Social, Emotional, Learning) Love award.
Ms. Tracy Torrez, K-1 teacher at Bluewater Elementary School was the second recipient of the SEL award. Superintendent Widner complimented Ms. Torrez whose classroom represents the goals of the SEL program.
The third awardee of the evening was Ms. Monica Vallejos, Secretary for Laguna- Acoma Jr./Sr. High School. Widner credited Vallejos for her support, for recognizing what sometimes needs to be said, and for her encouragement and support.
“She is a champion for everyone in her school. I’ve wanted to recognize this person for a while. She is the kindest, friendliest, happiest person that I think I know. . . she is that smiling face that's there that just really makes a difference.”
Next on the agenda was a first read of the New Mexico School Board policy presented by Mrs. Salazar. Legal revisions and suggestions have been made and were reviewed by the NMSBA legal representative to ensure representation of Title Nine regulations.
To begin, Mrs. Salazar mentioned a policy read of A-0250 non-discrimination equal opportunities policy from an October 2023 meeting and that the policy has been revised. The NMSBA will continue to revisit that policy to ensure it is in compliance with Title Nine.
Salazar further explained how to read the document, that “Everything in red that is highlighted is the addition, and anything that’s crossed out in red is eliminated from our current policy.” Without reading the entire document, Salazar announced she would be available to answer any questions anyone might have.
Superintendent’s Report
“We are currently in the process of purchasing upgrades for elementary classrooms,” reported Widner. “We have considered types of items that should be in a classroom, the desks, the chairs, the teachers’ desks.”
The Board is in the process of purchasing sets of classroom furniture to be upgraded at many classrooms across the district, about five classrooms at each site, reported Superintendent Widner. This will include teachers’ desks and chairs in kindergarten, fourth grade, and sixth-grade classrooms in appropriate sizes.
A vendor familiar to Cooperative Educational Services has been consulted to acquire the best-negotiated price. That vendor has supplied a bid and a quote for the cost of each classroom.
Attention now turned to the needs of the local Grants High School. At this time the school is having difficulty with their water-based system for both cooling and heating the school. The system uses towers on each side of the building that circulate hot and cold water. At least one of the cooling towers is not working.
GHS is due for an upgrade to their heating and air system, but GCCS cannot utilize funds until December and the new year. To resolve the problem, they are currently leasing a cooling system. To purchase a new cooling tower costs $400$500,000. The decision is being considered to replace the 20-year-old water-based system and upgrade to a refrigerated system.
The application to fund the upgrade has been submitted. The total cost will be $10.5 million, and the school district’s cost will be $2.5 million The new Bluewater Elementary School is approaching its move-in date, which may be the end of September. Final touches are being added and new furniture is being moved into the classrooms. A final inspection is still needed before the books can be brought in at the end of September. Classes may begin in October.
“I had a tour of Bluewater Elementary School two weeks ago,” said Widner, “It is beautiful, it is a wonderful, wonderful new shining light in that in the community of Bluewater. We are very excited to open that school.”
It was suggested by Superintendent Widner to Mr. Ortiz that perhaps a report of income and expense for each month using the Capital Funds Form could be submitted to Mrs. Daily.
After a 5-minute recess, the board reconvened to consider Action Items. The first was for approval of the application of Rachel Zamora, an Early College High School junior student, to graduate early. Ms. Zamora read a prepared statement which she read to the board. Her petition for early graduation was granted.
Ms. Zamora intends to pursue a career in education. She has earned two Associate of Arts degrees in Education and Arts. Her immediate goal is to earn her bachelor’s degree in education focusing on Math. After earning her Bachelors, Ms. Zamora wants to return to GCCS to teach at Milan Elementary School, and after four years return to college to work toward her Masters in Curriculum and Instruction. Zamora’s eventual goal is to be Superintendent. The motion for Zamora’s early graduation passed in a 3 to 1 vote.
“I am passionate about education not just as a subject but as a tool for change, growth, and opportunity,” Zamora stated as her reason for wanting to graduate early.
Next, Grants High School Principal Elkins introduced student Analesia Lopez who requested early graduation from GHS. Lopez wants her grandmother, who has leukemia, to be able to see her graduate, and to jump-start her career goals. A motion was made for approval. After a roll-call vote, the motion carried 4 to 0.
The third agenda item to be considered was to approve three GHS students and Harry Lee National FFA finalist, ECHS to attend with their advisor, Amador Gonzalez, the National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis, Indiana on October 23–26, 2024. This convention is the largest convention following the democratic and republican conventions.
Gonzalez, the agriculture teacher at GHS, gave a brief presentation bringing to the board’s attention that one of the students participating, Harry Lee, is a national finalist in the National Agro Science competition in the plant science division. He is rated one of the top 10 students in the country and will be going on stage to participate in a convention presentation.
The motion passed and 0ut-of-state travel for the FFA Convention and Expo. On Oct. 23-26, 2024, was approved.
A donation has been offered to help sponsor the students, Clemente Garcia, Corissa Cook, Rico Valencia, and Harry Lee, who will attend the national convention. The Bi-County Fair Board has offered to donate $2,000.00 to the GHS FFA Chapter. The motion was made and approved to accept the donation through a roll call vote. Mrs. Lee had abstained on the possibility of a conflict of interest.
Another donation, in the form of a grant, has been offered from the National FFA Organization and Tractor Supply for $2,785.00. The grant is to the GHS FFA Chapter to assist their successful floriculture program. The motion to accept the grant was approved with a roll call vote of 4 -0.
A motion was made to accept a donation of two hoop houses to the agriculture programs at Grants High School and Los Alamitos Middle School. The two hoop houses are valued at around $4,000 and will be installed at the school sites by the Pueblo of Acoma.
“A hoop house is a greenhouse that has plastic covering and PVC pipe. It is used to grow wonderful produce and things in there and flowers,” offered one board member. The roll call vote carried unanimously.
Out-of-state travel required approval for chef Patricia Downing to attend the Association for Career and Technical Education Conference in December.
Before the vote to approve Ms. Downing’s travel expenses, she made this statement to the board.
Good evening, Madame President, board members, superintendent Widner, staff, and guests. The ACTE excellence awards recognize those members who have made extraordinary contributions to Career Technical Education programs that exemplify the highest standards, and organizations that have conducted activities to promote and expand ACTE programs Award winners serve as inspirational leaders to ACTE. They embody the core values of serving their students and being committed to ACTE. The ACTE Carl Perkins Community Service Award recognizes individuals who have used ACTE to make a significant impact on their community and demonstrated leadership in programs and activities that promote student involvement in community service.
Because of the catering program that I've developed through my program and the extensive community service provided by myself and my students through FCCLA, I was selected by both NTI the state New Mexico ACTE program, and the Region 4 ACTE covering New Mexico, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas as the winner of this award. I'm the only teacher from New Mexico that was selected at the regional level and have recently found that I'm one of four National finalists for this award.
These awards will be presented at the ACTE Awards Gala in conjunction with ACTE's Career Tech Vision in San Antonio, Texas the first week of December. As a national finalist, I feel it is my duty to be present to potentially receive the award and positively represent New Mexico GCCS and Grants High School. I was informed however that due to funding issues, the district would not be able to cover the cost for me to travel to this event.
Region 4 ACTE has offered to reimburse up to $1,000 as a scholarship, but that will not cover all of the travel expenses. The Grant Rotary Chapter, because of assistance we gave during the community Thanksgiving dinner last year, has offered to sponsor me for this trip. The exact amount of the donation will be determined once all expenses are verified for hotel, airfare, and registration. The anticipated cost is roughly $2,182. The Rotary will be making my travel plans and paying directly to the airline, hotel, and ACTE for registration. I will not actually handle the money, and I'll be responsible for my own meals and any additional expenses.
My request is that the board allow me to attend this conference and accept this kind offer, and attend the conference where I can positively represent our school, our district, and our state. Thank you.
A motion was made and approved for Ms. Downing to travel to the ACTE convention in December. A second motion was made to approve a donation from Grants Rotary to pay for Ms. Downing's travel and lodging expenses. It was passed unanimously.
Superintendent Widner brought the next concern before the council, a need for better sidewalks at Laguna-Acoma High School, as they are broken and in need of repair. The projected cost to repair and replace the damaged sidewalks comes to $144,789.67. A motion was made for contracting the repair and replacement of damaged sidewalks at Laguna- Acoma High School. The motion was passed in a roll call vote, unanimously.
The final Action Item for the evening brought a brief discussion regarding a donation offered by muralists James and Blake Emory to paint a mural at the GHS baseball field clubhouse, accepting all expenses.
The offer had been made to GHS Principal Elkins who made a brief statement.
“It would be in celebration of that state championship. Part of that mural will be an actual picture of the boys with their state championship banner and their trophy. The other parts are just representations of Grants High School, a Pirate, a baseball player, a catcher, and things like that. So, we would be filled with gratitude if they would be granted the opportunity to do that for us. I think it's a great recognition of what those boys have accomplished and what they've done and again, we would, as a school, be really grateful for approval of that. Thank you.
A motion was made, and passed, to approve the donation from James and Blake Emory of materials and labor to paint a mural on the clubhouse at the GCCS baseball field.
On the Consent Agenda were two bars, both passed. Bar ending with 0008 for an increase in funding for school buses, and the bar ending with 0009 for an increase to the budget for the Stronger Connections Grant (SCG) Program.