By Lynn Janes
The Silver City Consolidated Schools held a work session and regular meeting November 17, 2025, which took place at Cliff School. Members in attendance included Ashley Montenegro, Michelle Diaz (phone), Patrick Cohn, Mike McMillan and Kimberly Klement. Superintendent William Hawkins also attended.
Work session
The team from Dekker Architects attended the meeting to provide an update on the project to build a new school for Cliff. Juan Durado, principal in charge for the project, Ivan Lopez, project architect and Juan Gallegos, project manager, did the presentation.
Durado said the project has been moving forward successfully. Every time the team meets, they start the meeting with the vision and mission statement of the school district to remind them every time the project will not just be bricks and mortar; it will be about the kids.
Dekker Architects provided a PowerPoint presentation for the board to view the process and vision. The current school has served a lot of people for generations and they want to preserve that legacy. The program packet they provided the board will also be submitted to the public school finance authority for approval to move forward.
Now they have officially begun the schematic design development. After a few months they will be looking to select a contractor through a competitive bid process.
Part of the schematic design process will be the assessment of the existing gym. It will require looking at the cost of renovation versus a new structure. Durado showed them a list of pros and cons of the decision. The costs for both choices will be evaluated. Renovation would cost 59 percent of a new structure. The gym has been there for a long time and the team said although renovation would be important, in the long term it might not be worth it.
The public school facility authority considers that if renovations cost come to about 60 percent or more of the cost of a new facility, they recommend the new facility. The decision will fall to the district
In the process of the project, they started with researching the history and culture of the area. They had also come and taken photos and viewed the pickup and drop off of students to understand the day-to-day life on the campus. Committee meetings took place to hear the ideas of the community. It will be an occupied campus construction project meaning the students will remain on campus during the construction.
Dekker Architects had come up with four ideas for the committee to review. After the review they had chosen two of the ideas for the campus. One would keep the current gym and the other would have a new gym. The team went over each layout with the board.
Hawkins wanted to point out the process of renovating the gym. The would be taking it down to the bare bones to ensure it lasting for a long time. However, no matter how much they put into renovation it will be an old building and maintenance will be more. He added that when you start renovating you never know what problems might be found.
McMillan said he had been part of a couple of meetings with Dekker, and he thanked them for everything they presented and the way they presented. Everyone’s input has been valuable and appreciated. They will have unknowns in the project no matter which way they choose to proceed. In the end they will have a beautiful school that Cliff can be proud of.
Dekker has provided comment cards for feedback on the project, and they can be found at the central office or at the school in Cliff. They will integrate those into the project. The team will continue to be in the community and attending events. With the board's permission they want to create a website to show the progress of the project so the community can follow the progress.
Work session adjourned
Regular meeting started.
The board approved the minutes from previous meetings and the agenda.
Information and presentations.
Kiwanis student of the month
Hawkins read the letters for each student.
Hunter Weaver, eighth grade, helps his peers and is always ready to learn. He actively has been involved in FFA as a team leader and also a student of integrity. He does the right thing even when difficult.
Cambree Shock, ninth grade, is considerate and helps everyone around her. She is nice to everyone and makes a point to involve them even when they have not been that well-liked by the other students. She mentors the young cross country girls, motivating and calming them. Along with cross country she participates in basketball and her community.
Brian Shock, athletic director Cliff schools, had a presentation on the fall sports for the school. He thanked the board for coming and their support.
They have 68 to 78 percent participation from the students. In golf they have 20 students participating and this will be the fifth year of the program. The golf program has a full girls' team and full boys' team. They competed in a field of over 300 golfers.
For cross country they have 24 students participating and this will be the third year.
Track had 172 boys compete and 130 girls. The girls had finished eleven overall, and the boys finished seventeenth. He went over the difference in the 1A, 2A and 3A schools and had done great among their peers.
Diane Carrico and Desire McGee, SCEA (Silver City Education Association) attend to provide a report. They had come back from bargaining and went over some of the outcomes of that. Carrico did add that they have some growing upset at Stout Elementary with the malfunctioning HVAC system. During the August testing time the classrooms didn’t have any cooling. One classroom had an average temperature of 80 degrees. It had been over a year since the new system was installed. Complaints had been vocalized, written and run through the chain of command with no results.
Information to the board
Brennan Shock, student body president Cliff High School, welcomed the board and he and other students provided a PowerPoint presentation to the board on Cliff Schools. They had their bonfire and color run. The students went over all the fall sports and where they had placed with each one. FFA had been very busy showing livestock at four fairs. The students had a senior college fair. They thanked the board for supporting FCCLA. Ryann Tedford had earned national recognition for her projects “Make it to Market” that paired students with other students with special needs to create and sell handmade products at the farmers' market. She won a gold medal at the state level and silver at a national level. This would be a first for New Mexico in this category. They had honored veterans on Veterans Day with a full program.
The students covered many more events and had many pictures in their presentation.
Montenegro asked if the students had been involved in the planning of the new school with Dekker. Brennan Shock said no but they have been doing a ballot system and asked the students what they wanted to see in the new school. They assume they will be more involved in the future. Montenegro asked how they felt about it. Brennan Shock said it would not affect him much because he would not be here the next year because he will be graduating. He did say the students have been concerned about the gym and the upcoming basketball season. One student said they will be excited to see the changes.
Mark Valenzuela, Bosque Advisors, came to speak on the 2026 general obligation bonds. He congratulated them on the passing of the SB9 in the recent election. Valenzuela went back to the general obligation bond they had passed in 2024 special election that supported a $25 million bond issue. This set them up to run $7 million the first year and $6 million for the next three years after that. They had completed the $7 million and now will be ready to do $6 million for 2026. If the board wanted to do more, they could but Valenzuela recommended not doing more than $7 million and said they could also do less than the $6 million. He had a PowerPoint presentation to show them the different scenarios.
They will be following the same process to sell bonds for 2026 as they did in 2025, a negotiated sell in the public bond market. He did provide other options but did not recommend them. However, he explained them in detail. Tonight, they would be looking for direction from the board and then at the next meeting will have a legal bond resolution for them so they can start the process.
Hawkins said he had the capital outlay requests that he would be presenting at the upcoming Prospectors event on December 4, 2025. He had activity vehicles for student travel, two for Silver and two for Cliff. The request would be $320,000 to replace four vehicles. The next would be landscaping and outdoor improvement for Harrison Schmidt Elementary for which they had requested $200,000. He provided the board with the full presentation he would be making. They had funding to do work on Harrison Schmidt, but he wanted to enhance the landscaping and playgrounds.
Louis Alvarez, associate superintendent, had not attended and Hawkins read his report. He went over all the positions open.
Cindi Barris, associate superintendent, had an enrollment report for the board. She had not attended, and Hawkins went over the report. He said she and Alvarez could not be there due to attending the Safe School Summit in Albuquerque. He continued with the report that the enrollment currently is 1,979 students and he didn’t have a mental health update.
Finance subcommittee
Montenegro said they had met and reviewed the financial reports. They had talked about the SB9, and she thanked the voters for supporting it. The athletic budget had been addressed, and they gained an understanding of how that process worked.
The audit committee had not met but it is in process. They have been waiting on some audit guidance from the federal government.
The threat assessment did meet, but Hawkins did not have any notes from that meeting.
Board president
Montenegro spoke to the online board training she had presented at the last meeting. They had talked about approving the silver package. It had been discussed that they might wait until January so they had a full year but found out if they signed up now it would take it through to the next year so they would have a full year. Currently all the board members have six or more hours. Regional meetings give them three hours each time.
Montenegro started the second reading of a number of policies having to do with staff conduct with students, reporting boundary violations and suspected boundary violations. She said Diaz had reviewed these a little more in depth. Diaz had some comments she wanted to make.
Diaz said she had a couple of concerns. Each school has their own handbook and while looking at them and cross referencing them they had not be consistent. The handbooks all need to reflect these new policies. The second item they needed to have consistency across the discipline matrix from school to school. Each elementary should be the same and each high school should be the same. The third thing she found some other things that she thought inconsistent. She gave an example that ethnic slurs and arson have less of a penalty than alcohol use. She found that interesting.
Diaz felt they needed more time to cross reference so they can be consistent in their message. She continued with some other examples and brought social media and cyberbullying into the conversation and thought it should be included.
The board and Hawkins discussed the concerns that Diaz made for some time and how they could be addressed.
Public comment none currently.
Board comments
Montenegro wanted to talk about an email Hawkins had sent to them about gratitude as they head into the Thanksgiving holiday. They tend to become busy with life and projects. “I really just want to take a minute as a board to all of our taxpayers just to express our gratitude because without your support none of this would be possible. I have no doubt but really this sense of gratitude that that I personally want to express to our constituents and to our community but also on behalf of our entire board.” This had been a hard time when everyone received their tax bills and some feel the pinch. Some have been understanding and knew it would be coming. She wanted to take a moment and recognize and appreciate the opportunity to build a new school and sell a school for someone else to occupy that space. She wished everyone a happy Thanksgiving.
Diaz thanked the voters and wanted them to know they didn’t take their support lightly. “I am very appreciative of the vote of confidence.” She congratulated everyone on the fall activities and their successes. She thanked the staff and administration for all the work they do.
Cohn thanked Cliff for the warm hospitality like always. He had been glad to leave work early and enjoy the drive out to Cliff for the serenity and much needed recharge. He wished everyone a happy Thanksgiving. He would thank the county taxpayers for their support, but it had been a trying month. Many people have been really unhappy. When talking to them while they pay their taxes, he had reminded them of the many meetings that happened the last year for the special election to increase the taxes. He provided a lot of information to them about the projects, needs and how it would be utilized. Many said they didn’t know anything about it and maybe they needed more marketing. He loves his job but said this year had been overwhelming. “You can only take so much negativeness until you have to go home and cry and you know what I'm on the school board because I care about students and come on if you're watching this look at what the Dekker presentation had, that's where your taxpayer money is going.” Soon they will have all the projects on the website so taxpayers can see what that money will be doing. “I wish everybody a happy Thanksgiving from the bottom of my heart and again I thank the taxpayers of Grant County for this investment, and I promise you all will not be disappointed.”
McMillan thanked the community for their hospitality as always. “It is exciting to be out here during the early design phase where yes we have some tough decisions to make with the new school but there are some unknowns with those decisions but in the end, we will have a beautiful school.” He thanked the voters for supporting the SB9. He hoped everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving.
Klement wanted to reiterate what her fellow board members said. “Thank you to the community for supporting the schools with SB9.” She thanked Dekker for their patience, involvement and willingness to take the extra steps to become involved in the community. She thanked Miss Piercy at Jose Barrios Elementary for the great Veterans Day program. She had attended with her daughter who had attended the school and now goes to Silver High School. She commended all the students that had been in the fall athletics and band. She wished all a happy Thanksgiving and said to recognize the gratitude and embrace it.
Action items
Consent agenda
Michele McCain, director of finance, went over her requests. The board approved all requests made by McCain. She had checks totaling $3,485,629.90, and several budget adjustments that had to do grants that had been received. She went over each one the grants and the amounts.
The district had received donations from
Freeport McMoRan:
SHS (Silver High School) Band-- $2,000
SHS Boys Basketball — $2,000
SHS Girls Basketball — $2,000
1st Class Construction by Chavez LLC:
SHS Boys Basketball — $1,000
SHS Girls Basketball — $500
McDonald's:
SHS Soccer-- $1,000
Grant County Youth Soccer Region 309, SHS Soccer — $606.75
Silver City Moose Lodge 1718:
SHS Football-- $1,000
SHS Incentives — $500
Terrazas Funeral Chapels,:
SHS Girls Basketball-- $500
Elks Lodge No. 413:
SHS Marching Band — $500
SHS Incentives — $500
SHS Soccer-- $500
Paul A Leetmae, Insure Silver:
Leann Cook Art Fund — $500
Antonio Andazola, transportation and maintenance director, didn’t have anything to report currently.
The board approved the preliminary authorization resolution for series 2026 general obligation bonds.
The board approved the EDvice online board training and purchasing the silver package.
The board did not take action on the polices discussed earlier and possibly put it on the next work session.
Public comment none currently.
The next meeting for the finance committee will be December 11, 2025
The next work session and regular meeting will be December 15, 2025
Adjourned
