By Margaret Hopper
Cobre school board members met at the high school performing arts center Monday evening, February 8. The closed session began at 6:02, where Toy Sepulveda, board president, said they discussed student identifiable information and limited personnel issues. No decisions were made at that time. Board members present were Frank Gomez, Robert Mendoza, Frank Cordova and Sepulveda.
Frank Quarrell, high school principal, reported on some recent student efforts. Two seniors, Alexis Madrid and Brandy Hernandez, attended a pre-pharmacy event in Albuquerque on Saturday, February 6, where they and about 70 other applicants across the state competed for a place in the program, which was explained to them.
Those accepted would enter the program at New Mexico State University for four years where they would take classes and transfer to the University of New Mexico for their final two years. Quarrell said both Cobre girls were invited to the private interviews, which was very promising. The final results for the dozen or more who were interviewed will be announced in a few weeks, perhaps before February ends. If they are finalists, they should graduate in six years as licensed pharmacists if they keep their grades up.
Another event he was pleased to report on was the Indian Pride Band, which was invited to the Road Runner Review, a pep band at NMSU. The Cobre students were incorporated into the college band, playing side by side with the Review musicians. They saw the entire game between the New Mexico Aggies and their opponents. Quarrell said he told Chuck Gerheart, band teacher, he thought that one trip might do more good than attending a career day event for those kids.
Planning ahead for the testing days, he said they were cutting the days from ten to six, and would be able to make other changes for convenience, such as pulling out kids who had finished the tests and get them out to another area where they could exercise in the gym, or simply talk about non-testing ideas, while other students who needed more time to finish stayed in the testing area without the pressure of anxious peers looking on. Breaks would be longer, too, between tests.
His pep talk to students was that while they scored a D, he knew Cobre was not a D school. They would remove that score easily; they were only a point and five hundredths from a better score. They would GǣownGǥ that D until the testing period, but it would change shortly. In sports, two games were coming up with Socorro and Hatch. The girls would be on the road. On Saturday boys would be qualifying for state in wrestling. The basketball team was struggling but working hard.
Bianca Padilla and Tony Sosa were present; Sosa presented information on the JPO program. The statistics for all district schools showed attendance figures improving, except for Snell. It was down by about a point, from a 93.6 average to 92.7, but even with that, attendance figures averaged a half point raise, from 93.4 to 93.9 presently. JPO continued to work closely with the D. A.'s office, and with the work they were doing, they might reach the 95 percent attendance average over the district by May.
There had been 294 referrals of unexcused absences, which are noted after 3, 5 and 10-day markings. Of these, 94 percent had ended the unexcused behavior on the first contact with JPO. Parent contact is slowed down when phone numbers and addresses change and families move to another school in the district. Other issues are tardies and early checkouts, which appear to be nothing more than special privilege-taking, for convenience. Each third tardy will be equated as an absence. And similar action may be taken on the early checkouts, he said.
Sosa included two principals at that point; Chris Rottman, Snell principal, said he was considering lunch hour detentions for inconsiderate behavior. Michael Koury, San Lorenzo, said his school was hosting perfect attendance parties for the kids who qualified; sometimes there were prizes, too.
After their additions, Sosa returned to his report, saying of the other families who showed more resistance, eight were sent to counseling services, and six were being sent to the D.A.'s office for truancy. Some tutoring was needed for some kids, too. He numbered the perfect attendances at each school. Things were improving.
George Peru, Operations Department, presented information on the City of Bayard Water Conservation Proposal and a letter for the board's approval, regarding the planning. The city's water was shared with other places, such as Hanover, but the school was the largest consumer. Peru outlined the standards needed and said he thought most had been met. The questions were answered and the process should go forward, now.
Of about 500,000 acre-feet of water, the school could use 125,000 acre feet for irrigation; that could be effluent, reducing the cost. That water was rated 98.6 percent pure, but not good enough to drink. They had to be careful that students not drink it, even if it looked good. The rest would be the pure water, drinkable. They wanted no problems with what students might do out on the fields. The board approved the letter and the plan, and said they would get Frances Kelly's signature soon after, as she was absent the night of the meeting.
The board approved a request for facilities use by Cerebral Palsy Awareness Days. The group wanted the use of the high school track on March 26. Peru reported that Pat Abalos, athletic director, had chosen that date as the Saturday when there would be no conflicts for the track. It would be more like a walk-athon and would be needed for the whole day.
The board also approved the execution of documents for Public Schools Facility Authority, which needed to be done at two-year intervals. Peru said his name and that of Superintendent Robert Mendoza would go on the papers. As it was not an action item, the board did not vote on it, but the signatures were needed, anyway.
Cobre baseball requested a fundraiser, hoping the group would raise $10,000. Other groups also had requests for various amounts. Mendoza named them all and gave information of amounts and how they hoped to raise the money. Elementary schools had presented their calendars to the board. The NM school board association's institute would be held in Santa Fe February 11 to 13.
February 10, Wednesday, would be parent-teacher conferences; students would not attend. On February15, Monday, school would be out for President's Day. The Food Pantry would be at Hurley, Tuesday, February 16, starting distributions at 3:00 p.m. The next board meeting would be Monday, February 29, at the Administrative Office. The meeting adjourned at 7:45.