By Lynn Janes

The Silver City Consolidated Schools Board held a work session and regular meeting on January 22, 2024. Members in attendance included Ashley Montenegro, Michelle Diaz, Patrick Cohn, Mike McMillan, and Kimberly Klement. Superintendent William Hawkins also attended.

Work session

Judge Cynthia Clark attended the meeting to swear in new board member Kimberly Klement and re-elected board member Mike McMillan.

Cindy Barris, associate superintendent, gave the board an update on the data for testing the students. She had been joined by Matthew Goodlaw, who had worked at the Public Education Department (PED) and could help answer questions. The board had received a presentation before, but Barris said although it had been aesthetically pleasing, it didn't convey the needed information. She had provided the board with a new packet. The intent of the presentation will be to show how the data can be used. This will help the teachers address what will be needed for each student. She went over all the graphs and explained what each meant and how they will be using it. The data will help with the planning and instruction.

Cohn asked what the goals would be for nonperformers. Barris said they do have a list of goals but what they do will be different for each school and student.

Hawkins said they would be focusing on grade-level instruction and must look at the facts of what the data tells them. "This has been hard work and a transition for all, but they have done well."

The regular meeting started

Board reorganization

All current position will remain the same except Klement will be on the finance subcommittee and audit committee. McMillan will be on the threat assessment committee.

Information and presentations

Bob Carson with Kiwanis attended to present the student of the month awards. Kiwanis started 120 years ago and has been in Silver City for 80 years.

Luke Allsup, Cliff High School, has a strong work ethic and has been active in many activities. He is dedicated and shows excellent leadership

Lola Torres, La Plata Middle School, has been an exemplary student and dedicated. She has improved in all areas and inspires her teachers. Her character makes her shine.

Delilah Munoz, Silver High School, works hard and always makes improvements. She also has always been respectful and kind.

Heather Holguin, 6th Street Elementary principal, attended to recognize Laura Brown for recently obtaining her national board certification. She explained the significance of the certification.

Hawkins had a plaque to recognize Freeport McMoRan(FMI). Laura Phelps, Community Development Manager, attended to receive the plaque. Hawkins said they have some great partners, but FMI supports so much with the schools. They care about the community and schools. He thanked them for all they do for Grant County. Phelps said they could not do all they do without the community.

Alicia Edwards and Cassandra Hartley, coordinators for Grant County Healthy Kids Healthy Communities, attended to speak on the policies and program. The New Mexico Department of Health employs them and they have been part of the school wellness policy. They will have a student nutrition audit in March 2024. Edwards said they had evaluated the policy and made some changes. The changes made bring them into compliance with PED. One change had to do with SB147 that addressed drills and active shooters. The other added the wellness grant to the social emotional part of the policy. This must be approved before the audit.

Diaz asked about concession stands and how that would affect them. Edwards said when PED does an audit, they will tell you.

Edwards said the policy has been done well, and is in more compliance, than most. They spoke about the money made from the concession stands and how it helps fund other activities. Edwards said that maybe this would open the conversation of the need for more funding, so they didn't have to do the concession stands.

Claudia Smith, Silver High School principal, addressed the council concerning the recent realization that the state playoffs would be the same time as graduation. It had been an oversight in setting the date. It created a dilemma, but she had a viable solution. She had received many contacts from students and parents. People will be flying in from all over and internationally. They had to find a way to be fair and equitable. She noted no matter what they do it will be a problem for some. They would like to keep the date the same, May 16, 2024, but push the time back to 8:30. She went over the state playoff schedules.

Cohn asked if NMA (New Mexico Athletics) had the dates set and if it was something they could fix. Smith said they could not change the playoffs.

Diaz pointed out they had always had graduation on the third Thursday of May but little by little NMA has been moving the dates towards that. In the future she suggested they speak with NMA. This will be a huge milestone for the families and kids, and they should not have to choose. "As administration we should have seen these dates, but we need to move forward with a solution. I am struggling with the current solution. We must acknowledge the mistake was made and not everyone will be happy with the solution."

Later in the meeting they would vote on the solution.

Diane Carrico with SCEA (Silver City Education Association) did not have a report.

Superintendent

La Plata Middle School, Ella Schottmuller, student body president, and other students gave the board a presentation on their school. The presentation included problems, goals, and achievements. Some other things in the presentation included vaping, grades, behavior, and attendance. They went over all the sports activities past and coming up. The students also included what had been going on with Future Farmers of America (FFA), National History Day (NHD), and the band.

Hawkins said they still didn't have a decision from PED on the calendar days decision and they had been told they would know by January 13, 2024. The Secretary of State still has it in review. All legislative representatives have voiced their concerns. He went over all the problems not allowing a 4-day-week would be for schools across the state. He thanked and wanted to recognize all that showed up in support on December 19, 2023. Hawkins said Representative Luis Terrazas has shown support as well as Senator Siah Correa Hemphill. "I don't know when we will know."

Victor Oaxaca, transportation director will be retiring. He attended the meeting with Antonio Andazola, who will replace him. They have been working together to ensure a smooth transition and to retain continuity.

Louis Alvarez, associate superintendent, gave the board a personnel report. He said they currently have 98.7 percent staffed. The decrease had to do with having two new positions to fill and they have applications.

Cindy Barris, associate superintendent, went over the current enrollment numbers and provided documents to the board showing those numbers in each school. The previous month enrollment had been 2,163 and this month it had gone down to 2,138. Some students had to be dropped off because of nonattendance. Attempts had been made to solve the problem.

Cohn asked if they knew what happened to these kids. Barris said they sometimes know but not always. She said she would get the information for Cohn.

Joyce Barela, mental health coordinator, attended to give the board an update. She provided them with documents. They had started two new initiatives. A student survey had been implemented and they have been testing a new phone/computer app, called Alongside. Currently they have been testing it in the high school but next year it will serve grades 5-12. Students can ask questions and get answers. She told the board it was not a person they asked the questions to but AI. They had hired a person at Stout Intermediate and Jose Barrios for the wellness program. They have a progress report due in February 2024 to the federal government. Some had questions about the AI and Barela said it will recognize someone that needs intervention, and they will be contacted.

Hawkins said, currently the system in the schools has been set up to alert administration when words are written or research is on something questionable and has been used for several years and helped on several occasions.

Diaz wanted to know if the parents had given consent. Barela said they had on the other system and would be with this new one. Some had opted out of the other.

Cohn wanted to know the numbers of students using the wellness rooms. Barela said currently 1,800 and of those 391 had been different students.

Board of education

Montenegro said the finance sub-committee met and reviewed the financial reports and the project for HVAC systems in all the schools. They reviewed the mental health grant and possible investments to look into.

The audit has been finished and turned in. Now they will wait for a report from the state.

Alvarez said the threat assessment committee met and he went over how the committee works. Recently at the 6th Street Elementary school they had an incident. They reviewed what had been done and what they could do better. Currently the guards need one more firearms training and two others and then they will be ready to move forward. They have openings for a security guard. He went over the new program Zero Eyes and how it works. When it perceives a threat, it will notify authorities within four seconds.

Board president

Montenegro welcomed back everyone and hoped they had a good holiday.

Board comments

Diaz said she appreciated the push on the mental health grant.

Cohn said his thoughts and prayers went out for the student at 6th Street Elementary. He thanked the culinary class for the meal and welcomed Klement to the board.

McMillan welcomed back everyone. Grant County Day in Santa Fe will take place on Jan. 24, and he invited everyone to come and help advocate. Hawkins will be taking some students. He welcomed Klement to the board.

Klement thanked everyone who had helped her and said she has had a very warm welcome from everyone. They have been making sure she had everything she needed.

Public comments

A group of students addressed the board concerning the issues surrounding the graduation date. They went over all the problems they had in the past few years and said they had worked hard and earned the right to attend both their graduation and state championships. They added it had been very discouraging.

Quin Thompson, a student, said he supported moving the time of graduation and not changing the date. "I know it is hard to and in band we have had to make those kinds of sacrifices." Being an athlete has always been a sacrifice.

Steve Mitchell addressed the council concerning the sheriff. He had contacted Raul Villanueva before the election about getting a deputy in the Cliff-Gila area. He promised he would, and he honored that. They have a deputy in the area now. "It is safe now thanks to Sheriff Villanueva."

Tiana Sanchez said she understood an error had been made with the graduation date. Moving the graduation back an hour does not take into consideration many unknown delays. "There are too many what ifs. It is not about the travel it is about the students." They need to consider the safety. It will not just be the athletes affected, they have families and friends attending both. Many times, parents have other children competing.

Colton Traeger, a student, said he had a lot of ideas about the changes, and it would be sad that so many have to endure the long rides. It will be simpler to keep the same day.

Melissa Salas wanted to point out many concerns she had for the safety of the students and what a huge factor that will be. "We have a lot of family that will have to choose graduation or state playoffs. Pushing back the time does not help and they can't enjoy either. The safety of all needs to be considered. Travel plans can be changed.

A grandparent addressed the board and said she could not travel like that. Kids need to appreciate this. She asked that they change the date. Leaving it the same day could cause a huge liability. "Our kids worked hard for this."

Neil McDonald said he had worked with the youth for 25 years and remembered losing one in a car wreck. "Safety is number one." He pointed out how grueling the schedule would be. Drowsy driving has been a huge factor in many accidents. He told the board they didn't want this liability on their head. "A mistake was made, and we have to own it. You don't want people out there driving at 2 – 3 am, it can be a major risk." He asked them to change the date to Sunday.

Christy Gonzales said much of what she wanted to say had been said but it came down to safety. Plans can be changed, and airline tickets can be changed, things happen all the time. Sunday will be the best plan.

Chris Salas, a coach, said, "I know you have a hard job." He asked them to look at the schedule and know the NMA does not work with the schools. A student found this problem not an adult. "Do what is right for the kids, this is not political."

A parent said she advocates for the student athletes and feels the date of graduation should be changed. They work hard and deserve to do both and don't need the added stressors. The date needs to change, and they need to evolve and adapt.

A student said she had already purchased her cards and didn't want the date to change. She said she would be sorry it affected the athletes. Many people have already purchased plane tickets that can't be changed. International flights are expensive and asked that the original date be kept.

Lane Porter, a student, said they wanted to keep the same day and different time. Many have had strong opinions and points. Many families have made plans already and can't change them. They will not get reimbursed for their tickets and it would be hard financially.

Action items

The board approved all requests made by Michelle McCain, finance director. She had checks totaling $1,512,846.54 and budget adjustments. She had an award to go to Deming Excavation. The approval also included donations:
Silver City Dental – Silver High School girls basketball - $500
Town of Silver City – Fox Field - $60,000
First Class Construction by Chavez LLC – La Plata Middle School boys basketball - $600
Patrick and Edna Feeley -Cliff FFA - $2,000

The board postponed the approval of the wellness policy until the next meeting after a second reading.

The issue of the change for the graduation date decision will be made after executive session.

The board changed the next work session, regular meeting and finance committee meeting due to the work session and regular meeting would fall on a holiday.

The next finance committee meeting will take place February 22, 2024.

The next regular work session and board meeting will be February 26, 2024

The board went into executive session.

The board came back from executive session. The only action taken had been the Hawkins evaluation.

The board approved moving the date of graduation to Sunday, May 19, 2024, at 2:00 pm.

They discussed the changes that needed to take place. Montenegro said Smith felt really bad about the mistake and thanked everyone for coming. She said the board felt that the graduates needed to be all together this one last time and safety had been a major concern.

Smith said she had called the printer for the invitations and put everything on hold until further notice. The fireworks the students had requested will be planned for another time.

McMillan said he hated to see the split in the community and was sorry it had been overlooked. No winners but they need to move forward as one.

Cohn said, "You were all heard, and I was glad to see the kids come forward and speak to us."

Klement commended the students and parents for coming forward and commented, "The students are true leaders, and I am proud of them."

Montenegro said the goal had been to do what worked for everyone and thanked them.

Adjourned