By Margaret Hopper

The Cobre school board met Monday, February 23, at the District Office in Bayard with all members present. According to board president Toy Sepulveda, they discussed limited personnel, student identifiable information and goals for the superintendent at the earlier closed session, but no actions were taken. Those present were Frances Kelly, Robert Montoya, Frank Gomez, Frank Cordova and Toy Sepulveda. That closed meeting began at 6:02 p.m.

There was no unfinished business, and the board voted to table a use of facilities request from Calvary Chapel of Silver City. That will appear on the upcoming March agenda. Under public input, Linda Pafford of Mimbres chose to talk about the many tests confronting students in the near future and the rest of the school year. She said teachers and staff were doing their best in the circumstances, but that the volume and content of testing was an irrational process. Some test questions appeared to ask about materials students had not yet studied or information that was above grade level. It should be looked into. If graduation rates were to be improved, it was reasonable to put success into the testing process.

Under Administration, Dr. Jose Carrillo reported on the test scheduling coming up. The two major tests were the PARCC (Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) and SBA, (Standard Based Assessment tests). PARCC will assess English, Language Arts and Math. It is a computerized process and will begin in two weeks. He gave a series of dates various classes and grades would be using.

The SBA would be science-based and would start with grades 4, 7 and 11. Those tests would begin about March 23, but must be finished by March 27. He mentioned other tests, such as Race to the Top and Kindergarten Observation Tool, which also took up considerable time. He and Sepulveda agreed that there was a lot of testing but that the district was tied to funding for them, and they would be taken. Carrillo said this was state law. Mendoza said he had objected to some of this testing but could not opt out of it. "And who pays for all this?" The expense was quite a drain on the budget.

Mendoza recommended the board approve the check total (operational budget) from the month of January. Kelly asked questions about some Cooperative Education Services expense and checks written to Southwest Food Service, the group working with the new cafeteria changes. Mendoza noted that there had been cash flow issues for meeting payroll on the food service work-the October, November and December payments were appropriate. He said the entire state had felt the federal subsidy issues.

Another bill, regarding Gateway, was still in question. Mendoza said he would get back to her on that one. The board voted to approve the checks as presented. The total amount was $1,028,211.66. He gave the board an update on the student fundraisers, and mentioned that Judy Morris and her students reported they were more than halfway to their goal on the California trip.

The superintendent commended the Cobre Wrestling Team, which took third place at state. The student representative gave an in-depth report on this and other topics on his turn. Cordova remarked that the sportsmanship of both Cobre and Silver was at a high level this year. They didn't throw a fit when they lost. Each supported the home team, but when matched against others, both supported one another on the local level. Mendoza also mentioned the Cobre Band's Spring Concert on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Jose Rubio, filling in for Markus Flores, student representative, said the students were hoping to change the advisory period from just Friday mornings to a 30-minute period every afternoon; the present timing was difficult to get anything done. The idea of a four-day attendance week next year was on hold, and they were looking at the district calendar. He mentioned the teams playing tonight and tomorrow, girls' basketball at Socorro, and boys' basketball playing Silver at Deming for district placement.

Rubio congratulated the wrestling team for placing third at state. Individuals who had placed well at state included fourth-placing Zeke Solis, Ivan Rodriguez, Corey Roberson, Gabriel Pedraza and Sam Holguin. Third place winners were Brent Horsley, Dylan Rottman and T.J. Ortiz. Isaiah Sifuentes placed second, and Cobre's three first-place state champions were Eric Morales, Robert Rodriguez and Randy Maynes.

Mendoza complemented the group of student representatives for the quality thinking they were doing on looking at issues that needed review and possible change. He also thanked Principal Quarrell for working with the group and the growth they seemed to be making. Sepulveda offered his comment that a number of teachers had remarked how well the custodial staff had cleaned the campus lately.

Cordova reported on the school board training at Albuquerque and some of the changes that he saw coming. Among them were funding for schools and how the gas-and-oil incomes were presently down, which affected what the schools could get. He said the major focus was still college preparation, and it looks like the planners are looking at earlier grade levels for ways to get this done.

There was a need for the practical skills, too; many students didn't want to go to college and could use training as mechanics, electricians and other skills. The entire state needed to work on this. One board training class was about free speech at board meetings and how to control that properly. Still another class was about handling superintendent evaluations and how it was possible to lose a good employee if they didn't handle it right. Finally, he said they were sworn in at the training session, but they still should do another swearing-in here at the local meeting.

At the end of the meeting, Frances Kelly offered congratulations to Frances Vasquez of Silver District who was in attendance. The meeting ended at a little after 8. The next agenda will include the use-of-facilities request that was tabled this time, and the swearing-in of board members.