Photos and article by Margaret Hopper

Cobre school board members were all present Monday evening for the May 22, 2017 meeting, which began at 7:22. The earlier session began at 6:02, according to Toy Sepulveda, board president. Others present were Gabriel Holguin, Gilbert Guadiana, Frank Gomez and Frank Cordova.

Liz Nations' special project students were moved up on the agenda to get them home sooner. Four of her 5th and 6th graders were on hand to demonstrate the games they had developed electronically under the topic of “Coding Club Presentation.” In its unfinished business, Alicia Edwards was back to help the board finish preparing the Healthy Kids Healthy Community work that has the plan to put all policies into one organized unit by the end of this June.

Checking on progress to this date, Edwards had made comments on Cobre's collected work, saying the PED (Public Education Department) expected certain wording in the process, which she helped along. With all the planning, corrections and helps, she would like time with the board before the next meeting on June 12 to be sure all things were in place, as they were to approve the final copy then, and the State was to get it shortly after.

Edwards said these policies would be evaluated by the State at three-year intervals. It was an ongoing process. As the plan had been to approve the work at this board meeting, the board voted to table that action and present it again at the June 12 meeting, where it should be completed.

To comply with the finance and audit committee mandates, two board members were named to those committees; Guadiana volunteered to work on finance and Gomez agreed to sit on the audit committee. There would be community people added shortly; Karen Burnette had her choice of which committee to join, as she had been previously contacted, and other names will be heard soon.

Caroline Baldwin, founder of Literacy Link - Leamos (Let's Read), brought a good assortment of books showing what children could choose from and take home as their very own. She explained the program and named some of the local sponsors who helped with financing. The children in nine elementary schools of Grant County, kindergarten through age 12, are given free books through the schools. The organization has given out nearly 24,000 books with a retail value of $300,000 this year, she said.

Baldwin had a handout sheet of information and her statistics, which she gave to board members. The program receives grants from First Book, a national organization. Publishers donate the books, but the local chapter must raise funds for shipping and handling. All children get the free books, but children from low-income homes are the greatest beneficiaries, as without these gifts, they might not own a single book, she said. Cobre thanked her with a certificate of appreciation.

Erik B. Harrigan, director of RBC Capital Markets, an Albuquerque firm, presented information to the board for nearly a half hour, explaining the district's present level of indebtedness and assets that would allow it to consider a bond election plan, perhaps even this summer and fall, to re-obligate the paid-off portion of bonds encumbered about five or six years ago.

According to Robert Mendoza, superintendent, the expenses for past renovations of Central, Bayard and other projects were coming immediately. Cobre's remaining share of those bills required a little over a million dollars, and other needs would fall due shortly.

Harrigan set up some examples of how this could be done at this time, posing deadlines of September and October, so that any action taken would work with the county offices to have the proper amounts in place for collections by December and next May, the usual tax collection periods. He also said they could wait until all bonds were paid off in 2023, at which time Cobre could request a new bond election.

Board members discussed the timing and how they might develop a plan. He assured them that they could approve an election resolution without a specific list of needs, but follow up later with the total plan and how it would be marketed. And his firm would help them with all steps of the program.

At present, many districts were considering an ongoing rotation, asking for a smaller amount at, perhaps, each five years, keeping up with current needs and managing the finances more closely. The board members continued asking for more information and voted to go deeper into the planning. If it decides to use this route, the commitment would need to be in place by the June 12 meeting.

By now, the meeting was already at 9:00 p.m. and Hannah Burnette's family, complete with Hampton, also a former student representative, back from college, needed to leave. The board presented her with a plaque recounting her service, their personal hugs, and sent them all on their way.

The meeting continued with the rest of the agenda, approving the Title I application and the 2017-2018 schedule of board meeting dates, and finishing with the review of bills and a series of BARs. The April checks had been written for a total of $910,389.77. The budget request adjustments included $930 for dual credit expenses for students, $38,783 for a Title II final allocation, final IDEA B entitlements of $22,614 for preschool and $62,299 for the elementary students, and $5,722 for the June portion of planning for K-3 Plus summer school. The July portion would be on the next budget.

On the superintendent's report, Mendoza rechecked that all board members would have gowns to wear at graduation on Friday, May 26. The next board meeting would be June 12, in Bayard, at the administrative offices. The Healthy Kids, Healthy Community work would be back on that agenda, as would the RBC Capitol plans. The board adjourned at 9:30.