By Hallie Richwine
The Silver Consolidated Schools Regular Board Meeting took place Tuesday, October 17, 2017, in the Silver Schools Administration Building. All members of the Board of Education as well as Superintendent Audie Brown attended.
Jennie Coleman and Alicia Beck presented a new youth basketball league to the board. Chad Leary is planning on retiring the present youth program and the plan is for this league to replace the old one. There will be a series of clinics followed by league play. Modeled after the successful soccer program, this is a non-profit program carrying insurance and screening coaches. It will be run by a board and will not be a travel league. Coleman and Beck are looking for time and expertise from the surrounding community. Board President Mike McMillan said: “Congratulations and best of luck - any time we can have an activity for youth outside of school it is a positive thing to do.”
Next to present was Juan Carlos Maynes who requested the board accept the intention of the Silver High School senior class to travel overnight for their senior class trip. Maynes, along with Ann McMillan, serves as sponsor for the trip and worked with the students to create a memorable experience. “A lot of the students do not get out of the community,” said Maynes, who explained the reason behind an out-of-state trip. Board approval is required for any overnight trip, and fundraising is needed to ensure students can attend. Maynes and McMillan researched cost estimates and created a code of conduct contract for students and parents to sign. The plan is for qualified seniors to attend youth day at Disneyland this spring. Seniors must meet all requirements for graduation, sign the code of conduct contract, and participate in fundraising efforts. The student to chaperone ratio is 10 to 1, and adults attending are responsible to pay their own way. Superintendent Audie Brown suggested the code of conduct contract be reviewed by legal counsel.
The last presentation during the information portion of the meeting came from Steve Saenz on behalf of SCEA and Katrina Bustillos, who asked the board respectfully to consider refraining from obtaining an attorney. Saenz said SCEA values the partnerships formed through the collective bargaining process and an attorney may make the relationship less friendly. Hiring legal counsel also takes funds away from the classrooms, where every dollar makes a difference in student’s lives.
The board voted on the consideration of and approval of authorization to dispose of obsolete equipment. This will be submitted to the state auditor with the intention of auctioning items prior to Christmas break. Any funds acquired will go into the operations fund.
The board also voted on the consideration of an approval of the Silver High School Senior Field Trip, which passed unanimously with the only concern being the review of the code of conduct contract.
As for the consideration of and approval of legal contract service for collective bargaining, the board was split and they went into executive session to further discuss the action item. Justin Wecks and Frances Vasquez had opposed the involvement of attorney Dina Holcomb. However the final action taken by the board was to hire her to review the collective bargaining agreement. Vasquez said she would prefer the services of another individual familiar with the document, possibly not an attorney. Wecks wanted more information on why a twenty-four page document needed cleaning-up and why they would need legal services to do so.
The next Regular Meeting of the Silver Consolidated Schools Board of Education will be November 21, 2017 at 6:00 pm with the Work Session immediately preceding at 5:30 pm. Both meetings take place at the Silver Schools Administration Building located at 2810 North Swan Street in Silver City.