By Lorie Hildebrand
Cobre School Board Meeting
Monday September 9, 2019 5 p.m.
The Cobre School Board met in the Cobre High School library Monday. All members were present. They were given an update by Deputy Superintendent George Peru on the status of ongoing Maintenance of Facilities. The leaks in the roof of Snell Middle School, Hurley, and Bayard Elementary schools are being fixed. Where the welds come together is a problem of leaking. Progressive Roofing is working on a fix. The new dishwasher for Central Elementary is up and running fine. Bayard Elementary did not test theirs yet as had no dish detergent. Parts for the high school dishwasher should be arriving this week. It is a pressure reducing valve. The geothermal system is on the fritz again at Snell. Delta Plumbing is working on it. School maintenance has no one trained right now to keep the system running. Peru would like to see someone in the department get the opportunity to gain experience with the system. “We may have to replace up to two thousand feet of pipe. It is rusting from the inside out” Peru said. The High School is having problems with the HVAC air conditioning systems also.
The reason for the band-aid fixes is to keep the ratings of the Cobre schools up above 100 to facilitate funding for new schools. Right now they are about 70 on the scale. “So we want to save as much money as possible and band-aid all we can.” Peru said.
Peru then updated the Board on Phase 1 of Projects Related to Bond Issues. The High School football field bathroom designs are done and the request for bids will go out today. Plans for the auxiliary gym at Cobre High are changing due to the high cost of building materials right now. They will be looking to downsize. This would not be a big impact as the gym will only be used for practice and youth events. There will be no seating available. The Hurley portable building will have power by December and can start being used in January. The district is looking for an alternative to the metal stairs and railing at the building too. They would like to find something less expensive than metal. San Lorenzo school parking lot is almost done. They still need a filtrations system for the new well before the water can be used. The old well will be used in the greenhouse and ponds. Central Elementary will be getting some roof work done soon. “That roof was put on in 1934 and has held up well, but now it needs to be replaced,” Peru said.
Superintendent Robert Mendoza also spoke about Phase II of the Projects Related to Bond Issues. The Hurley playground for pre-k and kindergarten is about done. The Softball, Football, and Baseball fields are getting finished up. All are getting base fill, top soil and grass. The baseball field needs a new fence to keep javelina and kids from coming in the back side. The San Lorenzo will be getting lighting for the parking lot. New marquees will be in soon for the schools. At the softball field, bleachers, batting cages and concession stands will have to wait. If there is money left over, the school will be able to fit them in.
A presentation from the Drone Club was postponed until the next meeting September 23, 2019 at the Administration Building Boardroom at 5 p.m.