The August 13 Cobre School Board meeting opened the public session at 7:10. Board president Frank Cordova said they had discussed limited personnel, new hirings and the salary schedule in the closed portion. No decisions had been made.

Mary Stoecker of Fitness and Nutrition - Community presented a lengthy report on recent findings for Body Mass Index. She said the spring letter with screening information went out to parents at the same time as report cards, greatly reducing the time and expense of a separate mailing. Parents received information on their children in grades K, 4, 7 and 10, but aside from school nurses, no one, including program personnel, knew any facts about any child, as they were reported as numbers and remained anonymous.



Stoecker pointed out the close connection of fitness to academic achievement, with test scores, concentration and other positive factors rising as fitness statistics rose. She noted that a serious trend was that of diabetes, with children now at risk for Type II, or adult diabetes, which was much more serious in children, and it was increasing. A few decades back, no children had Type II. And children can’t control it with exercise and diet. “They will be on medication for life,” she said.

Locally, 53 percent of the school children had been identified as overweight and obese a few years back. Presently that seemed to be down to 40 percent, still a serious number, but showing improvement. Board member Sepulveda asked if the increase in pre-packaged foods contributed to the problem. He remembered having more site-made foods at the school in years past.

One innovation the program hoped to promote was Recess Before Lunch, a scheduling change of sending grade school kids to recess before they ate, not after. Expected benefits include less rushing through lunch to get outside as the exercise and time delay should see children hungrier and wasting less food This better nutrition should result in alertness in the classroom plus many similar benefits.

Last year’s student representative to the board, Corina Castillo, was formally presented with her $1000 scholarship from the state’s Region VIII board district. Corina is going to college in Phoenix, AZ and was present with her mother to receive it.

Assistant Superintendent Jose Carrillo reported that all 78 juniors had taken the competency exams. 62 had passed them, the other 16 would be given tutoring in reading and math before retaking the tests in the spring.

Chris Salcido had asked for the use of facilities for league work at a former meeting and had now sent the board his letter of request. Interim Superintendent George Peru recommended that the board approve that request, and that it also approve the facilities use by the Mimbres Harvest Festival Committee. The board approved both unanimously.

Peru said the old erosion problem on Jones Street was now being addressed. A damaged area was being compacted and cement would be added to make bus transportation safer.
This might be a bid situation and requests have been made to learn if bids were let, as well as the names of bidding firms and the amounts submitted. At present, contact has not been made with the proper school person and no answers are ready. No information appears to have been passed by the board on this issue to date.

Another water issue was the northeast corner at Central Elementary in Santa Clara. The plan for that was to let water collect in a ten-by-ten foot spot where water drained and put a sump pump there. Excess water would be piped to water the grass as needed and they could improve the lawn at the same time. Student and staff safety issues would be considered in the plan.

Peru said the school had received a donation of used chairs for San Lorenzo Elementary School from the Wilderness Ranger District. About 20 chairs that had a moveable part to form a desk were a welcome item and the district appreciated the gift.

In the past few days, the district had hired new teachers, some of them from Spain. Peru named Ernesto Garcia, Ester Monje and Ray Gonzalez as Spanish language teachers, the first two at high school and Gonzalez split between Snell and high school. Pablo Jaime was a science teacher, offering biology and chemistry.

Bernadette Gonzalez is a speech diagnostician and language pathologist. Sandy Wilson will fill the administrative assistant position at Snell, and Gary Cook was named as administrative assistant of operations.   

At Bayard Elementary, Joyce Barela would be principal. Cheryl Montes will teach 2nd grade, Serina Murillo, 4th, and Ashley Hoover, 5th. Trini Tolar is returning to teach 4th grade at Central, and Maria Rivera, 5th grade at Hurley.

On August 27 a Title IX workshop is planned for all coaches, as the regulations have changed considerably, said Peru. High School Principal Johnny Benavidez said teachers have passed evaluations and the certificate of accreditation from the North Central Association “will hang in the library.” According to Benavidez, the next due date for similar evaluation and accreditation will come on June 17, 2017.

The meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m. The next board meeting is scheduled for August 27 at the District Office.

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.