[Editor's Note: The author has tried for several weeks to get confirmation on the names of the students the board recognized, as well as more specific information on the financial report. However, her multiple emails to the persons involved were never answered. We apologize for the lateness of this report.]

By Lynn Janes

The Silver City Consolidated Schools held a work session August 15, 2022. President Ashley Montenegro called the meeting to order. Other board members in attendance, Patrick Cohn, Mike McMillan and Eddie Flores (phone). Superintendent William Hawkins also attended. Michelle Diaz came in after roll call.

The board approved the work session agenda.

Hawkins' presentation addressed the new strategic plan being implemented this school year. Studor has developed the plan. The superintendent presented the board with the mission, vision and values of the plan. He said he would like to see this continue and become an annual process. The next process would involve doing a score card and monitoring the progress. Hawkins realized it had been a long process to get the plan done but felt it had been worth it. They sent out a final survey and got back 48 opinions. The vision statement got an 89.1 percent approval, mission statement 83 percent approval and the values 80.8 percent approval.

Dr. Butler of Studor heard over and over that community engagement and partnerships had been unique to the area.

The mission statement had been to help students, empower for future employment and empower the parents and guardians.

Hawkins said the next step would decide on what to focus on first in the next month. Dr. Butler will visit the schools to work with administration and the steering committee. They will have a scorecard for the board to help evaluate the plan. Montenegro commented on it being a long-term plan with a lot of goals. Hawkins said it had taken a long time to put together but bringing in an outside source had help to facilitate it more quickly.

The work session adjourned.

Regular meeting

The Silver City Consolidated Schools held the regular board meeting August 15, 2022. President Ashley Montenegro called the meeting to order. Other board members in attendance Michelle Diaz, Patrick Cohn, Mike McMillan and Eddie Flores (phone). Superintendent William Hawkins also attended. The pledge of allegiance and salute to New Mexico flag took place.

The board approved the minutes from the work session and board meeting July 25, 2022, finance meeting July 21, 2022, and special meeting July 29, 2022.

The board approved the agenda for the meeting with the change of including presentations for accomplishments by Coach Palacios to information and presentations.

Information and presentations

Teachers Claudie Thompson and Lee Wilson presented the National History Day Students with certificates. The students included Sophia Abeyta, Anson Beck, Avery Beck, Isaac Beck, Lauren Brueggemann, Michael Calkins, Maleah Diaz, Addison Drennan, Daniella Holguin, Mikaela Johnson, Mitchell Konopnicki, Elizabeth McDonald, Faith Pellegrino and Colton Traeger. They pointed out that New Mexico had seven in the top ten nationally.

Klayton Bearup, the Silver High Ag teacher, had recognitions of students that had placed first and second at the state competitions. He said everyone did really well. The students recognized included state champion milk team: Rylee Evans, Lizzy McDonald, Kylee Jones and Peyton Thompson. Also recognized was state champion talent winner: Trey Greeman.

The Silver High School cheerleaders received recognition, but Grant County Beat has been unable to get that list of students. All had attended the Thunderbird Cheer Camp.

Associate Superintendent Cindy Barris recognized some of the local businesses for their donations. Barris said that when teachers have all day trainings, food isn't covered. Federal title monies can't be used for food, so they look to local businesses for support. Barris said they couldn't do it without them.

Kandra Young, Western New Mexico Communications – Donated money for the school's Scope and Sequence work this summer, which paid for staff to attend.

Mr. and Mrs. Konopnicki of McDonalds Restaurant – Donated over 400 coupons of French fries and Big Macs for students' attendance incentives.

Yaha Aguilera, Save the Children – Donated more than 25,000 Scholastic Books for the students to have in the schools' libraries and at home. She also donates her time to help vet the books before they are distributed.

Sara Rivera, Dairy Queen – Donated Ice cream cone and percentage off coupons.

Stephanie Thompson, Sonic Drive In – Donated 300 Slush Coupons for students.

NMOGA/New Mexico Oil and Gas – Donated $1,500 worth of incentives for Elementary Students and for upper grade levels. They also donated a Pizza Party for classes with the best attendance.

Adobe Springs Restaurant – Donated and prepared a fresh hot gourmet breakfast for 75 people for the all-day training at Silver High School for Kagan Instructional Strategies.

Barris thanked all of them for stepping up to help.

Victor Oaxaca, the transportation director, gave the board an update. He said they have continued the asbestos inspections and have been using a company out of Albuquerque to do them. He said they had taken care of the mold at Cliff, and it had been cleared but would continue to follow up regularly.

Oaxaca said they didn't have enough staff for the bus schedule but had combined schedules and had managed to keep it covered.

Harrison Schmidt just had the entry way finished. Oaxaca said now they would start on the parking lot.

The new HVAC system had been installed at the Silver Scholars.

The guard shack had gone up and the football scoreboard would be up at the end of the week.

Oaxaca said the flooring at the G.W. Stout Elementary cafeteria entry had been fixed from the flooding and U.S. Forest Service use. Also, the concrete at Jose Barrios has been replaced to stop anyone from tripping, both in the front and back.

Hawkins thanked Oaxaca for all the unlisted projects they had done and accomplished before school started.

SCEA President Katrina Bustillos will be stepping down and she will still be a part of the bargaining, but Diane Carrico will take over as president. Carrico is the instructional assistant at G.W. Stout Elementary School. The next meeting will address revamping of sick leave, 80/20 insurance splits, etc. Carrico said the new employee orientation had been a success.

Superintendent

Hawkins addressed several things for the board.

The bell schedule has been posted on parents' Square. Wednesdays will be early release for professional learning time. Hawkins said he would be excited to see how it helps. He cited a book and recommended reading it. The book is called Heart and talks about education. He said he found it to be very beneficial.

He gave the board an explanation of how Zone exemptions worked for students that want to attend a certain school but live out of the zone for it., and the adjustments that had been made. He said they really looked at how to be fair. He added that if they had an attendance or behavioral problem the exemption would be taken away.

As of the date of the meeting all covid regulations have been left to the decision of the local boards. He explained the next meeting the regulations would have to be an action item but for now they would just follow the current protocols. Vaccinations, quarantine and mask protocols had been lifted. The board had some comments and questions. Diaz cautioned and still recommends vaccination. She said, "Don't relax and be responsible." The state recognized the excessive paperwork. If sick, isolation still needs to be observed and a mask worn for five days after the return to school.

Louis Alvarez, associate superintendent, gave the board an update on personnel. He said they had 98 percent of the positions filled. He added that they had upcoming interviews that should fill those vacant positions.

Cindy Barris, associate superintendent, explained Scope and Sequence. One can view the CFA (common formative assessments) information online. She said they worked many hours over the summer to put it all together.

Michelle McCain, director of finance, said she didn't have July finished and next meeting she would have all the reports with all the new hires.

The finance sub-committee met, and it had been a short month, so the figures didn't reflect a true picture. They did encourage anyone to reach out with questions.

Alvarez gave the threat assessment report. He told the board about the reunification drill that include all the schools from Silver and Cobre. The drill would take place at the convention center. Hawkins said they had worked months on the plan.

Board president

Montenegro commented about all the projects the district has going and how it could not be done without the employees and the community. She said there had been a lot of social media about backpacks, shoes, haircuts, etc. for the new school year. She brought up the reunification project and how big of an undertaking it had been.

Diaz welcomed all the students and staff back. She also thanked the administration and added she was happy to be part of the team.

Cohn said he agreed with Montenegro and Diaz. He welcomed everyone back and gave a shout out to the district for a smooth scheduling process. He thanked all the sponsorships, parents and grandparents that helped with cheer camp.

McMillan welcomed everyone back. He said the district had a lot of big projects and it would be a great school year.

Public comments none currently.

The board approved all the checks and budget adjustments requested by McCain. Currently the district did not have any donations, bids, or proposals.

The board approved the GPA requirements and changes for Cliff High School to be the same policy as Silver High School.

The board approved the asbestos management plan for the school year 2022-2023.

The board approved the strategic plan.

The board approved the continuation of Silver Scholars Montoya transportation contract.

Public comments none currently.

Next meeting and work session will take place September 19, 2022

NMSBA fall regional meeting in Lordsburg will be September 27, 2022

The board went into executive session.

The board returned to open session and reported no decisions had been made.

Adjourned