Cobre School Board members hear that two students accepted into cooperative pharmacy program

Category: Front Page News Front Page News
Published: 01 March 2016 01 March 2016

By Margaret Hopper

The Cobre school board met at the district office on Monday, February 29 with all members present: Frank Gomez, Robert Montoya, Frances Kelly, Frank Cordova and Toy Sepulveda, board president.

Sepulveda said they had met in executive session shortly after 6:00 p.m. to discuss student identifiable information, limited personnel issues, special ed funding and possible litigation. No decisions had been made. He opened the public portion at 7:08 p.m.

As there was no unfinished business, Linda Pafford of Mimbres spoke in the Public Input period. She asked that the minutes be drafted and posted within ten days after a board meeting, commenting that web information was usually not updated when meeting dates are changed, and that the public is left uninformed. Further, she questioned whether work sessions were being held, and if they were being reported.

Sepulveda said they had not had work sessions lately; there was nothing to report, other than the two meetings a month that were open to the public. Pafford added that she hoped the meetings calendar would be updated to keep people informed, and that the superintendent's agenda would be included in the regular agenda as well.

In the Administrative Report, superintendent Robert Mendoza asked the board to approve his temporary request allowing him and Sepulveda to sign documents for the Public School Finance Authority on an upcoming project. The board voted to approve the action. The second motion approving Cobre's Public School Capital Outlay Council application for the broadband deficiencies correction program was passed without comment. More information on this should be coming in March.

January checks written for $931,459.25 were approved by the board. A budget adjustment for an increase of $8260 for Title I Allocation and Carryover was presented for board approval after study of the application.

Mendoza's Superintendent Report included a number of fundraisers, many of them by athletic groups who wanted to buy T-shirts or other sports-related equipment. These had already been approved, but the board was informed of the groups' intentions, the amounts they hoped to collect, and the time periods when they would be gathering their finances. Mendoza also gave board members sports schedules for the events coming up this spring.

While no representative from Copper Little League was actually present, Mendoza expressed the League's thanks to the board for its recent use of school facilities and presented the plaque, which stated their appreciation, for members' personal viewing.

In an update from the February 8 meeting, high school principal Frank Quarrell wrote notes for the board about the acceptance of seniors Brandy Hernandez and Alexis Madrid, who had applied for the UNM/NMSU Cooperative Pharmacy Program (CPP), and who had both been invited to the interviews. Just recently it was reported that both girls had been accepted into the program and would be attending NMSU this fall. The CPP is designed to increase the number of pharmacy students from southern New Mexico, and later, increase the number of pharmacists practicing in this area.

Mendoza finished his report, saying there had been no school today, Monday, and that there would be an early release on Wednesday, March 2, for staff development and planning.

In the second public input period, board members reported on their trips to Santa Fe and the training they had received. Gomez, Cordova and Sepulveda told of sessions they had attended, stating that the meetings had been useful and of real value for the work the board is now doing. Cordova admitted that the Thursday trip to the Round House had been a good one, also.

Cordova added that Cobre wrestlers, who won the Class 4A State Championship in Rio Rancho over a week ago, were a credit to the district for their sportsmanship as well as their rankings. They were united as a team and an excellent representation for the school. His last comment was a reminder that the Region VIII meeting would be in Lordsburg on March 22.

The meeting adjourned at 7:30. The next board meeting is scheduled to meet at Snell on March 14, at 7:00 p.m. for the public. The executive portion is scheduled to meet there at 6:00 p.m.

Content on the Beat

WARNING: All articles and photos with a byline or photo credit are copyrighted to the author or photographer. You may not use any information found within the articles without asking permission AND giving attribution to the source. Photos can be requested and may incur a nominal fee for use personally or commercially.

Disclaimer: If you find errors in articles not written by the Beat team but sent to us from other content providers, please contact the writer, not the Beat. For example, obituaries are always provided by the funeral home or a family member. We can fix errors, but please give details on where the error is so we can find it. News releases from government and non-profit entities are posted generally without change, except for legal notices, which incur a small charge.

NOTE: If an article does not have a byline, it was written by someone not affiliated with the Beat and then sent to the Beat for posting.

Images: We have received complaints about large images blocking parts of other articles. If you encounter this problem, click on the title of the article you want to read and it will take you to that article's page, which shows only that article without any intruders. 

New Columnists: The Beat continues to bring you new columnists. And check out the old faithfuls who continue to provide content.

Newsletter: If you opt in to the Join GCB Three Times Weekly Updates option above this to the right, you will be subscribed to email notifications with links to recently posted articles.

Submitting to the Beat

Those new to providing news releases to the Beat are asked to please check out submission guidelines at https://www.grantcountybeat.com/about/submissions. They are for your information to make life easier on the readers, as well as for the editor.

Advertising: Don't forget to tell advertisers that you saw their ads on the Beat.

Classifieds: We have changed Classifieds to a simpler option. Check periodically to see if any new ones have popped up. Send your information to editor@grantcountybeat.com and we will post it as soon as we can. Instructions and prices are on the page.

Editor's Notes

It has come to this editor's attention that people are sending information to the Grant County Beat Facebook page. Please be aware that the editor does not regularly monitor the page. If you have items you want to send to the editor, please send them to editor@grantcountybeat.com. Thanks!

Here for YOU: Consider the Beat your DAILY newspaper for up-to-date information about Grant County. It's at your fingertips! One Click to Local News. Thanks for your support for and your readership of Grant County's online news source—www.grantcountybeat.com

Feel free to notify editor@grantcountybeat.com if you notice any technical problems on the site. Your convenience is my desire for the Beat.  The Beat totally appreciates its readers and subscribers!  

Compliance: Because you are an esteemed member of The Grant County Beat readership, be assured that we at the Beat continue to do everything we can to be in full compliance with GDPR and pertinent US law, so that the information you have chosen to give to us cannot be compromised.