By Lynn Janes
The Cobre Consolidated School Board held a regular meeting on December 11, 2023. Board members in attendance included, , Gabriella Begay, Gilbert Guadiana, , David Terrazas and Elizabeth Dean (online). Acting superintendent Michael Koury also attended. Serena Murillo did not attend.
Dottie Pfeifer with Kiwanis presented the students of the month awards for November and December.
Angelita Aveles from Snell Middle School takes responsibility for her learning. She has been a conscientious and exceptional student.
Kamera Ortiz from Snell Middle School always asks questions and is engaging. She has been a great role model to the other students and always willing to help.
Melane Baca, a senior at Cobre High School, with a 3.8 GPA has always challenged herself. She works hard and involves herself in many activities. Her teacher commented that she had grown into a much more confident person with time and become highly improved.
Gavin Chuy, a senior at Cobre High School, with a 4.0 plus GPA will graduate with an associates degree in 2024 at WNMU (Western New Mexico University) from enrollment in dual credit courses. He has also been enrolled in honors courses.
The board approved the agenda with one change. They moved the Ron Clark Academy update up to just after the agenda approval.
Koury said that some of the teachers that had recently participated in the Ron Clark Academy would be giving the board an update on their experience. A number of teachers had attended to give their impression of the course. Koury said most of them had made the comment "life changing" to describe the experience.
Seventeen of the teachers had attended including Koury. All that came forward thanked the board and said it had been an amazing opportunity. The training changed their mindset and built confidence to be more for the kids. Some of what they learned can be implemented right away and some will have to come in time. The course taught them how to teach the students to be more respectful of others and make eye contact. One teacher said, "This is my 33rd year of teaching but this made me want to come back and teach again." The training taught them to shake hands and make eye contact and how important that will be to make the students connect. It has already caused some of the kids to be engaged that had not been in the past. Each one kept saying "It was a wonderful opportunity." The course taught them how to use music to teach math. One of the teachers said every teacher in America needs to take this training. The training made one teacher say it brought happiness and joy back into teaching and would bring a huge difference in the district.
The course has been geared for K-8 grades. They will need some resources to implement some of the things they learned. The teachers said they would also need to have consistency in the process. One of the teachers commented that professionalism had been a big part of the culture at this academy. Everyone had been dressed very professionally. The Ron Clark Academy had 17 years to get where they currently have reached but the school prepared kids for the skills needed in the real world. One of the teachers said they needed so send as many of the teachers as they could to the training.
Guadiana asked what they used as a measure of success, referring to the testing. Begay encouraged Guadiana to go do the training and ask Ron Clark that exact question. Koury said the school is private and tests but not at the level New Mexico Schools have been required to. They all discussed the program for some time.
The board approved the minutes and bills that had gone through the finance committee.
Begay asked that the board evaluations be tabled until the next meeting. She had not been made aware of it beforehand so had not prepared.
The district had received a letter from the Public Education Department because of the first quarter financial report not being done correctly. Frank Ryan, finance director, said they had always done the report on a whole district level, but he had not been made aware that now they required it to be done on a school level. He had resubmitted it done with the breakdown of each school. He went over the reasons for the change. Koury said they would be losing some funds but will be looking closely on how to make it all work.
Begay asked if the district had a field trip fund. Ryan said they do provide transportation and food from the cafeteria for field trips and teachers are allowed one each semester. They do fundraise for additional field trips or for admission fees.
The finance committee had met, and they talked about hourly employees and the possible use of time clocks. They discussed the pros and cons of using time clocks.
The audit committee would be meeting the following week.
Board members reports.
Begay wanted to acknowledge this would be Dean's last meeting and thanked her for her service.
Terrazas thanked Dean for her service. He congratulated all the students involved in fall sports and their accomplishments and said he is looking forward to the winter sports.
Guadiana thanked Dean for her service. He said he had some great interactions with some of the students and teachers at Snell Middle School. "It is very different from before."
Superintendent's report
Koury had met with representatives from PSFA – Public School Facilities Authority along with Mr. Frank Ryan, Lisa Walton and Erin Brown-Meeks concerning the building of a new high school. He provided the board with a packet on the meeting. They toured the high school from end to end. Koury said, "It is a slam dunk for funding and the waiver for matching funds." After they were all done the subject of including Snell Middle School in the campus came up. Many schools now have been putting all schools on one campus and having a huge middle, common area. They talked about the options and benefits. Koury said this needed to be a discussion to see if it would be a good idea for them. He felt it would be a good idea. The cost of the high school has been estimated at $48.5 million.
Guadiana brought up the declining enrollment but added that Chino Mines would be going to 100 percent production and that would bring the enrollment up with the added employees required at the mine. Koury said they addressed not wanting to over size or under size the facility.
Guadiana wanted to know why the cost had doubled to build the new high school from previous estimates. Ryan said it had to do with increasing cost and it would include the design. He also said in this part of the state construction costs have increased considerably.
Guadiana pointed out the need for public input on the project. Koury said that would be part of the process and for now this has all been exploratory. They will be sending new projections that include adding the middle school to the campus, but he didn't know when they would get that information. Some districts have already combined campuses and Koury suggested they go visit some of them before making a decision.
Terrazas asked about the number of people homeschooling and the effect it's having. Koury said after covid they lost kids and didn't know where they went. "We have to create an environment to make them want to come back."
Koury gave the board a list of fundraisers and donations.
The board went into executive session to discuss collective bargaining strategies.
The board came back into open session and said no action had been taken
Meeting adjourned.