By Margaret Hopper

The Silver School Board met at the Administrative Offices Tuesday, March 15, starting at 6:00 p.m., with all five members present: Arnold Torres, Chris Arvidson, Tony Egan, Mike McMillan and board president Frances Vasquez. The first action was the reorganization, ending up with Torres as new president, Egan as vice president and Arvidson as secretary of the board. Positions were switched, nameplates placed at the new positions, and the agenda went on.

Region VIII information was reviewed; the meeting will be at Lordsburg on March 22. Of special interest is the information that the state is auditing the Special Ed programs of districts all over the state and that the speaker at the meeting on the 22nd is a specialist on SPED issues and will give legal and practical information on the subject to those attending.

Lon Streib, superintendent, asked Candy Milam and others concerned with financial information to also attend, as this may affect their financial areas. The board then made arrangements to carpool and get the staff persons to also attend, as this meeting could perhaps offer qualified help. The School Board Association scholarships would be another opportunity, and those rules and deadlines were also discussed. More on the scholarships should come out at this meeting.

McMillan brought up the question of the superintendent's evaluation. Streib said he understood the board president, Vasquez, said this had been done. If it had not, that was beyond his control, and the board could still do it.

Alicia Edwards, Coordinator of Healthy Kids/Healthy Communities, was first under Information to the Board. She spoke of partnerships with the school and other community agencies that all contributed to HK/HC work, noting she had previously worked with the backpack group and similar groups interested in nutrition for school kids.

Beyond the foods, she mentioned the activities and support organizations that could feed into this relationship, saying she hoped these combined efforts would change the life styles of many families and children. Her welcoming and parting words reflected the attitude: GǣI come to assist you, not to make more work for you.Gǥ Asking about a memorandum of understanding, Lon Streib, superintendent, said it would be a good tool, and she offered to type one up for use immediately.

Under SCEA, Leslie Fritz of Las Cruces addressed the board again, mentioning training at Washington, D.C., and some new legislation. She asked that the union be a part of the budgeting process, able to make recommendations, and that on April 15 there be a meeting of Silver, Cobre and Lordsburg with the union to make the best possible use of available moneys in the coming year.

The policy advisories on tobacco had their second readings. One was on Drug/Tobacco Free Schools. Others were titled Tobacco Use by Staff Members, Tobacco Use by Students, and Tobacco Use/ Smoking on School Premises. Streib asked them to reread them carefully as they would be voting on these policies next month. The older policy 114, Emergency Administration of Medicines, remained tabled for lack of upgraded information from the state.

Next, Streib read a letter from a parent of a different community commenting on the good sportsmanship of Cliff at the state games, and what a pleasure it was to know values and behaviors were as important as competition.

As various persons were allowed to speak, Milam made her report. Testing would be by grade level, and the last opportunity to opt out would be this Friday. Torres said his new job was to get community support back; there were many good things happening in the district, and these positive things needed to be acknowledged, not just the negatives.

Others commented on the sports wins and hard work of others recently. Egan remarked that Monday's budget session proved again that the budget was doing what it was supposed to do. It might be close, but it was still on track. Finances were OK.

In the Public Comments section, five speakers addressed the board on continuing to allow the comments. The first thanked them for these periods and insisted that these periods must continue. Sharon Bookwalter said she was aware of the frustrations, the anger and other issues, but that public input was essential. Silence was not golden.

Nancy Stevens said she was also aware of the tensions but community and board needed dialog, not a shut-down of communications. The school is the core of the community, she said. She hoped they had developed a Gǣthick skin,Gǥ as the Gǣback and forthGǥ was necessary. Reminded she had exceeded her three minutes, she finished, saying she thought the community could sort out the inappropriate speech, but not to end the comment periods.

Kyle Johnson asked for specific information that would lead to judgments, such as proofs that would establish indifference, mumbling, refusing to get closer to the microphones, behaviors that might suggest negative attitudes. He said he wanted facts, truths, and documentation of events. He wanted people held accountable.

Fred Fox said he had been here since 1987. He believed in public education and public comments were important, too. He said he encouraged the board to continue the public comment periods.

The action items and the consent agenda followed. Barry Ward, financial agent, reported $2,279,237.01 for checks written in February. He reported a further reduction on credit card expenses. A number of BARs, budget adjustments, were explained and listed for approval.

IDEA B, entitlement, saw a carryover from the past year and new funds coming in for a total adjustment of $105,720. IDEA B, Preschool, also had an older carryover and new funds, creating a BAR amount of $1,076. IDEA B Gǣrisk poolGǥ was adjusted with a $588 award. The operational budget had an adjusted total of $338,654. Montoya Transportation, buses, was adjusted to $39,612, and a final allocation, also pupil transportation, was $12,537. The board approved the financial information.

Gus Benakis, assistant superintendent, asked for approval of a bus driver and two activity drivers. This was done. Next, he asked for changes to bus contracts for the present school year. These were updated and the board approved them.

In a different action, a settlement agreement was reached between Silver and IC Bus, LLC. He explained that a new bus had been constantly giving problems, and after much work to keep it in service, he had negotiated with the original company, which agreed to take it back. The final arrangement was that for an additional $30,000 the company would give the district a new bus, valued at $150,000, and a five-year warranty. The board approved that, too.

The proposed changes to the BEDB Policy (public comment policy) were reviewed and in the end, Egan, who had proposed the changes, made a motion but asked board members to vote it down, as the changes wouldn't bring the desired result. When asked later about that unusual action, he said there were two considerations. It appeared that the public now knew that they had broken the rules and were willing to stop the inappropriate behavior. Also, to make a better policy, he felt legal council would be needed. If the public followed the present rules, perhaps the second step wouldn't be needed.

In the second public comments session, another five speakers signed to address the board. Linda Pafford asked that board minutes be placed on the website. They had not been published, but after 10 days, that should be done. People needed to be informed, she said.

Bill Hudson asked about the failure to place the superintendent's evaluation on the agenda, but it was said action had been taken. He said this was a violation of the open Meetings Act; if Streib was doing this, he should be terminated. He had failed to respond to the public, leaving it no option but to come to the board. He said the school was not improving, student scores were lower, and they could be frozen for two years.

Notified his time was up, he quickly finished.

Kyle Johnson said in the November board meeting, he hadn't been permitted to speak about the flag incident at Cliff. And at the October meeting, there were questions about the Montoya Memorial funds that needed answers. He wanted a thorough investigation with substantiations from the checkbook to final resolution. If it isn't complete, Streib should be discharged immediately, he said. He wanted responses, the processes, notes, evidence, witnesses, all of it. Streib said he would check with the lawyer; Johnson would have all the information he was entitled to.

Although his time was already up, he continued until he finished what he wanted to say.

Fritz said she wanted to go on record to be sure the union was part of the budget process; she said she saw many people here who could help the board with that process.

Justin Wecks said he was confused about the board policy on public comment. Was it done, or not? Would it come up again? The rules were already in place by policy. Further, he disagreed that the names of board members couldn't be used. He understood that personal attacks were to be discouraged, but disagreed with much of what the board had said or done.

After the end of the input period, 7:40, the board voted to go into executive session, and came out at 9:01 stating that no actions had been taken.

The next regular board meeting is scheduled for April 19. On June 3-4, a school Law conference is being held in Albuquerque for board members, and On July 22-23, a leader's retreat is also scheduled for board members, in Taos.elects n

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