By Margaret Hopper
Cobre School Board met at the high school's Performing Arts center on Monday, September 8, 2014. The earlier closed session began at 6:02 p.m. where Toy Sepulveda, board president, said they discussed limited personnel matters, student identifiable information and goals for the superintendent. No decisions were made in that part. All board members were present.
In the open session, which began at 7:15, budget adjustments (BARs) were requested for
the in-classroom breakfasts at the elementary schools. The new amount of $47,139 is scheduled to cover food costs in Central, Bayard, Hurley and San Lorenzo by state reimbursements. Another BAR for fresh fruits and vegetables for Hurley Elementary amounted to $6925. The board approved both requests.
Area groups asked for use of facilities for their work. No Regrets Youth Basketball, a long-time supporter, again asked the use of Snell gym for the year; Robert Mendoza, superintendent, said he had discussed the times with Chris Rottman, principal, and it appeared there would be no conflicts.
The Santa Clara Village Historical Committee asked for the use of the Central Elementary cafeteria and gym for its meeting on November 1. Background on this is that the group is working on a Veterans Day program, which will honor a local WWII veteran and code talker, Luis Armijo. Armijo's work was included in the Tom Brokaw book, The
Greatest Generation.
The Wildlands Firefighter Foundation requested the high school gym for its meeting, which would be either November 1 or November 8. The group wants to sponsor a volleyball tournament as a fundraiser. The board approved the requests.
In the superintendent's report, Mendoza brought fundraising applications from various groups to the board, which created some discussion. Sepulveda said many of these fundraisers affected the local merchants and community; he hoped the pressure would not be too great, as there was a limited number of merchants and other donors, and a lot of requests.
For instance, the boys' baseball group wanted to raise money for "equipment." Sepulveda
said it would help if they could be more specific as to the need; what kind of equipment, why it was not already in the budget, information that would help a donor decide what the real need was. He asked Frank Quarrell, high school principal, for more information, saying many of these projects could be better presented in the paperwork. Quarrell said he would be getting more details in the future. The board said an improved form might have more of these questions in it, and it approved the present requests.
Another part of the report was that there would be no school on September 10 for students as parent-teacher conferences were scheduled then. October 3 and 4 would be Fall Break and again, no student attendance. Mendoza then introduced Leticia Rodriguez, the 2014-2015 student body representative to the board.
Rodriguez mentioned some unmet needs the board might consider to improve offerings to students. She said the Science Club could gain experience in the science lab if they had gas and water there for use; at present, there was not much way to use the Bunsen burners. That might take additional funding, but it should be considered. She also mentioned air circulation problems in the gym, which needed updating, as it was very uncomfortable there at times, and the need for additional equipment in the computer graphics area.
She said she noticed that the food lines in the cafeteria were getting longer and she thought more students were eating there than in the past. The food seemed to be improving with the new changes brought by Southwest Food Excellence, the company from Hatch that was making improvements in area food service arrangements at schools.
Rodriguez said she plans to speak to cafeteria personnel soon and include a report on the cafeteria in another report.
The meeting adjourned at 7:39. The September 22 meeting will be back at the District Office, scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m. for the community portion.