By Lynn Janes

The Silver City Consolidated Schools held a work session and regular meeting February 18, 2026. Members in attendance  included Ashley Montenegro, Michelle Diaz, Patrick Cohn, Mike McMillan and Kimberly Klement. Superintendent William Hawkins also attended.

Work session

Darion Miller, client service manager for software the district uses called Boardbook, attended. Cohn had asked him to come and help them learn to use some of the functions the software can do that they have not been utilizing. He went over how they could better use it during meetings and outside of meetings that could save the board a lot of time.

Work session adjourned

Regular meeting started.

Information and presentations.

Bob Carson had attended to present the Kiwanis student of the month awards for February. He had three students but only two could attend so the third one will be recognized at the next meeting.

Tanner Frost, Cliff High School, has been very involved in athletics, activities and done extremely well in the classroom. He has respect for his teachers and peers, always with a positive attitude.

Vanessa Lucero, Silver High School, an outstanding student athlete, demonstrates commitment to help others and manages a 3.4 GPA. She volunteers to come in and catch for their pitcher every week.

Hawkins wanted to recognize one of the bus drivers, Jerome Ortiz, and present him with a plaque. He had been driving one of the buses bringing students back from a game in Lordsburg. "We have a number of wonderful individuals in the district that on any given day can do extraordinary things for the students." This had been a unique situation when on the road coming back from Lordsburg an an owl had flown into the windshield on the driver's side and some glass had hit his face. He had made sure the bus came to a safe stop and avoided a bad situation. "As a district we are incredibly appreciative that no students were injured nor any staff." He had reacted in a calm decisive manner.

Diane Carrico and Desire McGee, SCEA (Silver City Education Association) had not attended and did not have a report.

Information to the board

The La Plata Middle School student council had a Power Point presentation for the board to provide and update on what had been happening. Five had attended and took turns on each topic. They highlighted what had been going well and what they needed to work on. Attendance had been at 90.26 percent, and they have raffles and reward programs for those with perfect attendance. National History Day competition will be coming up later in the month. The students went over some of the clubs available to the students, such as a theater program, builders club, cyber patrol, garden club, art fusion (art fused with math) and photography to name some. They went over the sports stats and rankings. Some of the students had traveled with Hawkins to attend the legislature and Grant County Days. They had been able to attend meetings and watch while bills were introduced. The students addressed the houses and what they had been doing along with the points each one had accumulated.

Diaz asked the students how they felt about the cafeteria. They had some mixed answers and portion size had been brought up. They also seem to use the cafeteria more for breakfast.

Nathan Valenzuela, Bosque Advisors, had come to present the final terms certificate to the board for the general obligation school building bonds for 2026. Luis Carrasco, Rodey Law Firm, the district's bond counsel, had joined online to answer questions. Valenzuela said they had sold $6.5 million which produced a premium of $532,000 which covered all costs with an excess of $352,000 going to the debt service fund. They had two ratings, S and P and Moody's, and explained what the ratings meant. The interest cost for the transaction was $3.56 percent.

Carrasco had information to add. He had asked for this to be on the agenda to keep the board apprised of the proceedings and to comply with the statute. "The par amount of the bonds was $6.5 million. That lined up exactly with the maximum amount authorized by the board of $6.5 million. These bonds will mature on August 1 of each year beginning in 2026 and have a final maturity of 2040, which is not later than August 1, 2045, as permitted by the resolution." The bonds mature and bear interest as shown on schedule one to the final term certificate attached there at the back. The maximum coupon on the bonds came to 5 percent, which didn't exceed the 10 percent allowed by the resolution. The bonds sold to RBC Capital Markets in a negotiated sale pursuant to a bond purchase agreement and included that premium as Valenzuela noted. The board didn't need to take action on this presentation.

Hawkins said he would provide a very brief update on the legislature because of it still being in session. HB 253, distance learning bill had happened because of a situation encountered in the northern part of the state causing an imbalance and funding issues. He went through its process through the system. Because of this imbalance it would be causing a decrease in the unit fund for the Public Education to make it up. This would be affecting all 89 school districts. They had SB 19 to pause the requirement and allow HB 253 to correct the issue. HB253 stopped on the senate floor because of political posturing. Language had to be removed and adjusted and has paused. He had reached out to the legislators with their concerns. The literacy and math bill had passed. Both bills will ask districts to go back and look at how nonproficient students have been engaged and what intervention has been done.

They have a push to change the insurance staff pays to 20 percent with the school paying 80 percent. The state budget has a short fall and only has $3 - $4 billion in reserves. The state has also opted not to provide a 1 percent raise to the staff. Hawkins wanted to emphasize the impact the 80/20 on insurance would make for staff and provided examples and continued for some time. This would not have any effect on those that already have been at that level. They have been looking at ways to offset the insurance costs. He finally ended with that he thought the 80/20 had been a huge win.

Hawkins had awards for the board from the New Mexico School Board Association. Klements had completed 24 cumulative hours of training for level one leadership development. Montenegro and Cohn had more than 20 hours of training for 2024/2025.

Louis Alvarez, associate superintendent, had a personnel report for the board and at this time they have 98 percent of the positions filled, but after the report it had moved to 99 percent.

Cindi Barris, associate superintendent, said in the past month they had a decline of 15 students and after the report had declined another 4 students. She said they come and go. Hawkins added in they have been seeing this trend all over when he has talked to other superintendents and they had seen a lot of movement around the state. He cited a variety of reasons.

Barris did not have an update on the mental health grant but did have some information. They had been invited on a state team for their mental health initiative. The district had received federal funding but it has been on a month-to-month basis. They have three mental health people, and the students have the app to use for support.

Hawkins said the district had brought in a program, Stand for the Silent, in collaboration with Cobre district and Aldo Leopold Charter school. Captain Antonio Carrillo had spearheaded bringing the program in. The program addresses anti-bullying and goes to the heart of the impact of what could happen.

The district has continued to pursue options and litigation for the funding for mental health to continue. Diaz said the constituents needed to put pressure on the representatives. Cohn said, while in Washington D.C. as part of the School Board Association, they had prioritized student health, wellness and safety for academic success.

Finance sub committee

Cohn said they had a good meeting and had reviewed all the normal reports, financials, credit card statements and checks. Any questions had been answered. They had also discussed the ramifications of HB 253.

The audit committee had no report at this time. Montenegro said it had finished.

The threat assessment committee did not meet and did not have a report.

Board president

The board could nominate people for the 2026 Student Achievement Award. Hawkins had requested nominations from the principals. The board reviewed them and would be taking action later in the meeting. The association will pay for one and the board will have to pay an additional $50 for each one.

Montenegro did the second reading of the student discipline matrix policy. This matrix will be in each student handbook.

Board comments

Montenegro said graduation would be coming way too soon. She commented on how well things have been going with athletics, special programs and clubs. She had been glad to hear about all the clubs at La Plata Middle School in their presentation. The students had different ways to plug into some group they felt connected to.

Diaz commended the district for leading the way at the state and national level to put mental health for the kids first. She thanked the Fort Bayard Historical Society for inviting the kids for a practice run to present their National History Day (NHD) presentations. They engaged the kids and provided that support they needed. She wished the NHD students good luck.

Cohn shared his experience in Washington D.C. He had gone as secretary-treasurer of the New Mexico School Board Association and said he had been deeply grateful for the opportunity. He had been able to engage in powerfully timely conversations centered on education, equity and advocacy. He had attended an advocacy institute and said it had been both affirming and galvanizing. Affirming because it reinforced why this work matters and galvanizing because it makes clear just how urgent this moment is for public education. He went over all the speakers and national leaders that had presented. He had been encouraged by the introduction of AI certification pilot for school board members. The program recognizes AI has already been shaping the classroom, operations and decision making and they must keep pace. Cohn explained the program. The meeting and training had left a powerful mark on Cohn.

McMillan said he had attended Grant County Days and was glad to see Hawkins, teachers and students attend. It had a great turn out. He had not been able to attend the annual cake auction in Cliff but heard it had great success and thanked everyone who had supported it and supports the schools.

Klement thanked Cohn for his leadership and advocacy locally, state and at the national level. She had been inspired. She didn't know who to thank but commented on the walls at the high school she had seen a lot of great information about heart health for heart health month. The students had made some great posters. It had been very informative

Public comments none currently

Action items

Consent agenda

The board approved all requests made by McCain. She had checks totaling $3,385,085.39, and two budget adjustments increasing the operational budget. One had been for the sale of old equipment in the amount of $79,088.69.

The district had received donations;
Beck Family Dental, SHS Track — $500
Cassie Health Center, SHS Boys Basketball - $500
Ironworks 24-7 Fitness, LLC, SHS Track - $500
Runyan Construction, Inc., SHS Track & Field — $500
Silver City YPY Holdings, SHS Track - $500
Silver City Dental, SHS Track — $500
Sydney Thayer, SHS Track - $500
Victor A. Nwachuku, MD, PC, $500
Zia Access Healthcare of NM, P.C., SHS Track & Field — $500
Elks Lodge of SC, SHS Arts - $700 & SHS Baseball - $700
Morales 4NM, SHS Softball — $800
McDonald's, SHS Tennis — $1,000
Recovery Management Center, SHS Cheer — $1,000
Demetrios Campbell, SHS Tennis (Pickleball Shootout fundraiser) — $1,215
Silver FFA Alumni, SHS FFA - $2,544

This did not include the cake auction, which will be listed the next month.

Antonio Andazola, transportation and maintenance director, had two bus contracts for the board that they approved. The contracts were for Montoya Transportation and Shelly Farms. They will be purchasing new busses. This would revise the old contract.

The board approved the discipline matrix policy.

The board approved five student achievement awards. They didn't name the individuals.

Public comments none currently

The next meeting for the finance committee will be March 5, 2026
The next work session and regular meeting will be March 23, 2026

The board went into executive session.

The board came back into open session and said the matters discussed had been limited to what they listed in the motion.