By Lynn Janes

The Silver City Consolidated Schools held a work session and regular meeting on September 18, 2023. Members in attendance Ashley Montenegro, Michelle Diaz, Patrick Cohn, and Mike McMillan. Eddie Flores did not attend. Superintendent William Hawkins also attended. 

For the work session Darron Walter, POMS Associates, had a presentation about the restorative justice program for the board. This company provides the state of New Mexico with risk control insurance. Walter said he had 29 years experience in law enforcement when he  retired. POMS has a program they started that looks at positive interaction with the students to keep schools safe. Walter said threats generally come from within the school. POMS provides training, safety audits, security vulnerability assessments, OSHA certification, etc. 

For the program he came to speak about he used Raton as an example of what they had done and the outcome. He had a video of the superintendent of those schools saying the program had helped them tremendously. They still had a lot of improvement to accomplish but had come a long way using this program. The program had changed the way they looked at the issues and part of it had to do with listening to the needs and building relationships with the staff and students. He further said, “This is not an initiative but a philosophy.” 

Walters talked about how to handle students and compared how it has been done in the past and what this program teaches. “Children are exposed to many adverse events.” Relationships can build pathways to success while reducing violence. He said putting in metal detectors just say to the children you do not trust them. “Most kids are good kids, and these kinds of measures are knee jerk reactions.” He did say having safety measures have to be an important part of the overall plan. 

He provided the board with stats from Raton of before they started the program and after. All offenses had gone down in that time period. They had gone from 135 infractions to just 61. He also provided a list of all the programs and how many had used them. The district had a student success center. Walters said, “Every child deserves a chance.”

Cohn said he thought they have already been doing a lot of what Walters had talked about. Hawkins said, “We are trending that way.” Principal Garney (Cliff) has been looking at other options for behavior problems before sending them home. “We have miles to go but are trending that way.”

Diaz said, “This is what I have wanted to see.” She asked Walter how they do it and what did it cost. Walters said POMS provides this service at no cost to the school. The whole state has been looking at this program and he said he feels this would be a key to solve a lot of problems in all the schools. He warned they would have pushback in the beginning. Diaz asked how they would start. Walters said they would start with a four-hour training that would be part of the professional development for the semester. He would ask them to do one thing between now and the end of the year. Once a week have a proactive circle and get to know the kids. Take ten minutes and ask them a fun question and start building a relationship. He said some teachers would become champions of this. “At that point take three of them and we will train them further during the next semester.” 

Diaz asked Walters about balancing discipline, and he said some students will still have to be removed from the school no matter what they do. He added that finding the root cause of the behavior would be the start and then find ways to support that student. 

Montenegro said that they will be hearing from them again. Walters gave them a list of upcoming workshops in the state that would be a good place to start and suggested that they attend. Montenegro said they would. 

The regular meeting started 

Information and presentations

Craig Pfeifer with Kiwanis attended to present the student of the month awards. The students are chosen by the teachers who send letters saying why the student had been chosen.

Peyton Waters, 7th grade Cliff, works hard in and out of school. She participates with 4-H and FFA. She always has a good work ethic and is cordial to everyone. 

Ottorino Rosati, 7th grade, La Plata Middle School, has been a joy to have in class and always polite and respectful. He provides a good example to other students. 

Meghan Barnes, senior at Silver High School, holds a 3.5 GPA. She has a good work ethic and is always studious. She’s served as a counseling aide and been a great asset in that position. 

Hawkins and the board recognized the town of Silver City for their continued help to the district. He said when he came to work for the district he had reached out to Alex Brown, town manager, and he has helped him from the beginning and offered solutions to the problems he had. He also thanked Guadalupe Cano, Mayor Pro tem, for all her help and support. Both had attended and received the plaques. Montenegro wanted to especially thank them for the support and monetary help with fixing Fox Field. 

The board recognized the Silver High School girls’ softball team for winning the state championship. 

Alicia Edwards, coordinator of Healthy Kids Healthy Community and Grant County Commissioner, presented Rhonda Torres, student nutrition director, the Golden Chili Award. Edwards said they had an eight-year partnership with Silver schools and had done five gardens in the elementary schools, five pollinator gardens in the elementary schools and two greenhouses. She said Torres had taken advantage of the grants available to provide locally grown food. She went over all the projects they had done including the gardens, water catchment, permaculture, and composting. Edwards said, “No matter how bad the day had been when the kids get out in the garden it becomes a better day.”

Louis Alvarez, associate superintendent, said they had worked hard since 2021 to do the extended sick leave program and with the help of House Bill 403 they got it done. He explained the bill to the board and how it worked and what had changed. Currently they have 412 days in the bank and the maximum days that can be requested will be 40. The program will be open to all employees. Diane Carrico with SCEA (Silver City Education Association) had worked with them on the program but the employee does not have to be in the union to be part of it. Carrico said she would be glad when the board passed it so they could start using it. This will be for employees to give some of their sick leave to someone in the program that might have a health event that could take them beyond their sick leave time and allow them to use that sick leave in the bank.

Hawkins had several updates for the board. 

Cobre School district has a student representative that presents the students’ voice to the board. Hawkins decided they should do the same. They will have a presentation at each meeting starting with the high school then La Plata Middle School and then Cliff continuing the rotation. This time Iliana Smolik, student body president, gave a power point presentation. She addressed the fighting at games and the concern of students over the problem. “They do like the new suspension policy, and it is working great.” They also suggested a student fan bus for out-of-town games. She had a list of achievements—games won, homecoming, band fair, NHD, athletic training, etc.  

At the end of the last school year, board members sent out score cards as part of the strategic plan. They looked at them to see what they could be doing better. They will also be reaching out to the community and revisiting the score card to make it easier to read for everyone. 

Hawkins has put together a 45-minute presentation to use in the community concerning finance and facilities. They will be seeking advice from the community. He has been doing presentations with different organizations and will continue. Montenegro asked when he would be presenting at the schools. He gave them a list of organizations he would be doing and the schools. The time and date of the schools will be advertised. Hawkins will present at Cliff, Silver High School, and Jose Barrios. He will also be presenting at the monthly chamber of commerce luncheon October 5, 2023.

At the end of the last school year, they had a conversation about using a traditional or balanced calendar for the school year. The response they got had not been against the balanced, 30 percent had interest, 53.8 percent had said yes or maybe. He said the balanced would not change the number of days for instruction but just when they took place. They would have a six week summer vacation and have one or two scheduled throughout the year. Both calendars have positive and negative aspects. He had prepared a power point presentation showing further explanations. On September 28, 2023, they have a calendar committee meeting and will have a presentation for the schools in October showing the drawbacks and benefits. In November they will have two calendars to share. They will have online voting and feedback. In December, the committee will have a recommendation based on the feedback. 

In a previous meeting Hawkins had presented an option to join in a class action suit against JUUL a vaping company for claims of specific marketing to children with design, advertisement, etc. The suit won a $168 million settlement and 78 percent of that went to the schools that participated in the suit. He gave the board the details of how many schools had participated and those who entered in at the beginning received a higher payout. Silver Schools had entered in later. The district will receive $15,225. The money does have to be used on preventative measures for vaping. 

Alvarez said they had sixteen vacancies but had already filled six of those. Some of the positions open had been new. He said, “99.2 percent of the positions are filled.”

Cindy Barris, assistant superintendent, said enrollment has been declining. She had a document to show them and went over the changes at each school and grade level.

Cohn gave the finance subcommittee report. They had met the past Thursday and gone over the budget adjustments and talked about the policies and procedures. The audit subcommittee will start meeting soon.

Alvarez said the threat assessment committee had met and they discussed how to help the kids before problems arise and talked about how the wellness rooms have been working. They will also be receiving the firearms in the coming week and talked about the policy and how they would handle the weapons in off hours. 

The board had posted the declaration of intent to rename the band hall after the late band leader, David Kendrick. The 60-day notification will be up November 6, 2023. 

The open meetings act resolution had been changed for the district to establish reasonable notice to the public. It will add additional language to include the finance and audit subcommittees. 

Board comments

Montenegro said the year had already been eventful and she sees so much school sprit with everyone getting involved. “I am hearing the community say Silver Schools is doing amazing things. Our teachers and staff go above and beyond, and I thank them, it does not go unnoticed.” 

Diaz said they have a great start to the year. “I am excited about the restorative justice program. We need to take care of our kids head-to-toe.” She added it is important to have a plan for both proactive and reactive. 

Diaz added her recommendation, “It is that time of the year, please get your flu shot and covid shot. I know it is a personal choice but if you are sick, stay home.”

Cohn thanked the people involved in the decoration in the board room. Each teacher had a paper handprint on the wall. They had 240 hands. He thanked the Town of Silver City for their continued partnership and added Fox Field is used a lot by the whole community. “I have felt the positive school spirit.” 

McMillan thanked all the staff and students. He commented on how much the partnership with the city helps. He announced the parent kick-off webinar on September 27, 2023. 

Action items

The board approved all requests made by Michelle McCain, finance director. She had checks totaling $1,726,511.22 and four budget adjustments. The approval also included a donation from Humphrey’s Enterprises, Inc. for $500, for Silver High School cross country

The board approved the ratification of the extended sick leave program.

The board approved the acceptance of the Altria Settlement Final Allocation of $15, 225 as negotiated by the class action suit against JUUL

The council approved the consent agenda that included the second reading adoption of NMSBA (New Mexico School Board Association) service advisor 233-237 August 2023; 

Policy advisory No. 233 (new) nondiscrimination related to reproductive or gender affirming health care;

Policy advisory No. 234 (new) human rights act protection for gender or gender identity;

Policy advisory No. 235 (new) school board elections and holidays;

Policy advisory No. 236 food services / regulations; and

Policy advisory No. 237 open enrollment

The next regular board meeting and work session will take place October 23, 2023.

The next finance committee meeting will take place October 12, 2023.

Adjourned