The Regular Meeting of the Cobre Consolidated School District Board of Education began on Monday, January 22, 2018, following an executive session, which lasted approximately one hour. All board members attended with the exception of Frank Gomez.
The meeting began with a presentation by Terri Tapia of the New Mexico Public Education Department initiative, "FOCUS." Funded through the state and developed in conjunction with the University of New Mexico Center for Development and Disability, NM PED FOCUS has provided educators with a tiered quality rating and improvement system to gauge where schools rank in their early childhood development programs. This is a new initiative, and Cobre Consolidated Schools' Associate Superintendent Jose Carrillo was very instrumental in supporting the program.
Tapia said one of the inspirational drivers for the teacher recognition piece of FOCUS was the speech given by Theodore Roosevelt in 1910, "The Man in the Arena," wherein the victor is described as "daring greatly."
"Daring greatly for New Mexico's young children has been important," Tapia said. Alex Ruiz and Janet Alvarado nominated Carrillo for recognition.
"What I saw working with Cobre, at several meetings on several campuses, was a district that saw the needs of the community and the students," said Ruiz.
Ruiz met with Carrillo throughout the process, from setting up the criteria to revisiting and measuring the school district.
"To conclude, one of the qualities that Dr. Carrillo possesses...he's a can-do man. If we can do it, let's figure out how, and how to do it well," said Tapia. When the NM PED FOCUS administrators came back to Cobre to see if the district was meeting their criteria, they were very impressed with the practices in the early childhood classrooms and the district as a whole. Tapia reminded the board and community that the Cobre Consolidated School District is the very first district in the state of New Mexico to have piloted this process.
Superintendent Robert Mendoza said it's always an honor for the school district to receive recognition.
"Our district has been progressing, give credit where credit is due- the teachers work very hard in the classrooms," Carrillo said.
Board president Ralph Sepulveda thanked the administration and teachers for their excellent service.
Other administration items included the first readings of two updates for the policy manual. Any time there are revisions to policies, three readings by the board are required. These updates will be reviewed again at the next board meeting. Both updates are to the procurement procedures.
The final item the administration suggested was an update to the 2017-2018 school calendar. Mendoza showed the board that the current calendar lists parent-teacher conferences on February 16. He recommended the date be changed to February 8 so high school students, parents, and coaches may attend the state wrestling match. At the time the school calendar was made, they were unaware of the conflict. The update to the schedule does not alter the amount of hours the children are in the classroom. The board accepted the amendment to the calendar with all members in favor.
Under the financial part of the agenda, Mendoza recommended the board approve the check register as presented to them. While there was a motion to accept and a second, not all board members were in favor. "I'm not in support of it because of the lack of certainty in following local and state policy," said Gilbert Guadiana.
Deputy Superintendent George Peru updated the board on the bond updates, with most projects in RFP stage. The San Lorenzo well project is on task. However, the design phase needs approval by the state. This reflects a recent law change and the turnaround from the state should be quick.
The next Regular Meeting of the Cobre Consolidated School District happens Monday, February 12, 2018 at 6 p.m.