Changing the Rules to Make GCCS Meetings Faster
GRANTS, N.M. – On September 20, the Grants/Cibola County School Board met for one of their regular meetings. The meeting began with a recognition of Dr. Delton Martin. The Board congratulated him for achieving his full citizenship in the United States. He was awarded a certificate of recognition for all of his hard work.
The Board had four presentations at this meeting. First was 'School Site Successes' by Academic Services. Second was 'Public Comment Policy Changes'. Third was 'Budget Development Plan for 20232024' by Business and Finance Services. Last was 'Board Calendar Review and Additions' by the Board and Superintendent.
In the first presentation, the school counselor from Cubero went over events that had taken place at the school. She talked about how Laguna and Acoma Tribal Advisement came to the school to give the kids words of encouragement. The school also held its first Anti-Bullying Color Run. They partnered with Laguna Behavioral Health and Prevention and the Acoma Wellness Department. Laguna provided students and staff with shirts, water, and watermelon while Acoma provided snacks and volunteers for the event. The final success she noted was that most of the staff at the school has now been trained in QPR. 'Question, Persuade, Refer' are the steps used to help aid in suicide prevention.
At Laguna-Acoma High School, they are working on introducing more engaging standards in their classrooms. Their cross country, football, and volleyball teams have also had a great start to the year. There is also a new tradition at LAHS that allows seniors to paint designs in their personal parking spots every year from now on.
Grants and Laguna-Acoma teachers also attended a CTE (Career and Technical Education) conference. This was used to advise the schools that CTE education will be necessary to help to avoid a shortfall in the future of skilled trades workers.
Grants High School senior, Valor Maslowski, came before the board to share his experience with Boys State. American Legion Boys State is an educational program and has a summer camp for select high school students that lasts for five days and allows them to experience life on a college campus. It also covered his Advanced Placement high school class, allowing him to not have to take one his senior year, as well as granting him three credits towards college. The Board congratulated and thanked him for sharing his experiences.
Mesa View Elementary shared a few of the classroom experiences they have and the many skills the kids are getting to learn about from them.
Mt. Taylor Elementary is attempting to spread a message of positivity in the school through recognitions with their shout out board and choosing a staff member of the week. The school has also started an antibullying committee and has hopes for a PTA committee as well.
GHS Cross Country and Soccer were also highlighted at the end of the presentation. The second presentation was about a need to review the dated policies for public comments and change them. The Board President stated that this is to help the board focus on the business at hand for their current meeting while still engaging with the community. The board itself is allowed to choose whether or not to grant public comment. Their only requirement with the Open Meetings Act is that they do all of their meetings in the public so the people can see them do business. If public comment is allowed, the Open Meetings Act does not allow the Board to acknowledge public comments about things that are not on the agenda. Discussion about anything not on the agenda is a violation of policy. The idea behind this presentation was to discuss ways to voice complaints without a disruption of the Boards meetings. The focus is to change the current system from an open forum to a limited forum to solve the issue. They would like the public to understand that if they have a complaint, the best start would be to discuss the issue with those closest to it first, leading up to talking with the superintendent. There are forms available to fill out in the school offices should anyone still feel the need to bring something to the Boards attention.
The third presentation discussed the budget development for next year based on esser funds, student needs, funding, and forecasting for the local and regional economy.
The final presentation was a review of the Board calendar of things they will discuss throughout the year.
The Board entered its action items section of the agenda. The Board voted on, and fully passed the changes to the Public Comment Policy.
The Board fully approved the Applicant Tracking and Forms Program for the Human Resources Department. This will bring the department up to date on their current processes.
Announcements: October 4, regular School board meeting. October 10, school board training. October 14, end of first grading period. October 18 regular school board meeting. October 31, professional development no students.