By Lynn Janes
The Silver City Consolidated Schools held a work session on June 19, 2023. President Ashley Montenegro called the meeting to order. Other board members in attendance Michelle Diaz, Patrick Cohn, Mike McMillan (by phone), and Eddie Flores. Superintendent William Hawkins also attended. The Pledge of Allegiance and salute to the New Mexico flag took place.
The board approved the agenda.
The purpose of this work session had to do with the superintendent's contract.
The board went into executive session.
The board came back into open session and reported the actions that had taken place.
Montenegro said, "I am happy to announce we have extended Hawkins contract for two years." The contract will recognize the 6 percent increase from the state raise mandated and a market adjustment for comparable superintendents' salaries. The salary will be $160,000 a year. The board wanted to extend their excitement with his work and direction.
Work session adjourned
The Silver City Consolidated Schools held the regular board meeting June 19, 2023. President Ashley Montenegro called the meeting to order. Other board members in attendance Michelle Diaz, Patrick Cohn, Mike McMillan (by phone), and Eddie Flores. Superintendent William Hawkins also attended. The Pledge of Allegiance and salute to the New Mexico flag took place.
The board approved the minutes from the regular board meeting May 15, 2023, and finance meeting May 11, 2023.
The board approved the agenda for the meeting.
Information and presentations
The board recognized a group of athletes from tennis and track that had placed as state champions. Coach Liz Harrison recognized students for tennis. Kaitlyn Jordan, Anson Beck, Isaac Beck, Mitchell Konopnicki, Aiden Hooten, Jayden Pierpont and Marlee Stailey. Harrison said they had 14 new athletes join the team this year
Coach Patricia Kimmick recognized her track students that placed in the state championships, David Gorman, Stacey Bernstein, Aujineah Rosales, Alizae Torres, Stacy Murillo, and Makayla Martinez.
Shane Coker, directory of special education, gave the board a short presentation explaining the IDEA-B (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) application. They have done events to identify students ages 3-21 in need of special education. Part C will include birth to two years of age.
Diane Carrico with SCEA (Silver City Education Association) thanked the board for all the hard work they had done and said what they do has great importance. SCEA had worked hard to get the language they wanted on the CBA (collective bargaining agreement), and she said they would be sending it out to them soon.
Superintendent's report
Hawkins addressed several things for the board.
Hawkins introduced Joyce Barela, who recently started working with the district heading up the school-based mental health program. Hawkins said, "She hit the ground running." She had met with all the schools' administration and students to see what kind of mental health structures from a facility point they wanted to see. She had provided Hawkins with the questions for the survey she conducted. The survey centered on extracurricular and activities. The survey had been sent out, and they made it voluntary and anonymous. Some of the information that they received back: 85 percent of the students felt it improved their performance, 81 percent felt it had a positive impact, 80 percent said it helped their self esteem, 65 percent said it had helped with open parent communication. They had several other questions in the survey. The survey also provided an area to give comments.
The next steps will be to follow up on the low score areas and student recommendations. The survey will continue in the fall and spring of next year. They will also include Cliff in the surveys.
Barela added that some of the question they followed up on to get more information had to do with bullying and hazing. Although very few addressed that, some had. She said they had made it totally anonymous so the students would feel comfortable providing responses.
Hawkins had proposed a modification in the vacation time carry over. Currently the employees have only been able to carry over five days to the next year. He pointed out that many employees will not take that time because they want to make sure their job duties are done. Many never get that time they can take off or feel they can. In that instance they lose that vacation time at the end of the year and for some it falls in the double digits. Hawkins requested that that time that they can't carry over be added to their sick leave. It would not change the current carry over for vacation.
Recently they did a survey and the end of the year with the administration and students concerning the strategic plan. Hawkins said teachers and principals have already started planning for the next year, so they needed to look at the data to make those decisions. They will also be reaching out to the constituents concerning the current phase of the strategic plan.
Louis Alvarez, associate superintendent, said they had positions to fill and some were in the process of being filled but have 98.8 percent of the positions filled.
Alvarez gave the board an update on the Zero Eyes camera system. It will turn the current passive system into an active system. The cameras will be installed in all eight buildings. The system will be able to detect anyone entering with a weapon and will alert not only the staff but alert police immediately. The police will know exactly what camera the alert came from.
Cindy Barris, associate superintendent, said enrollment went down by 155 students but felt that when school started it would go back up.
Barris gave the board an update on the progress for dual enrollment classes. They have been looking at offering more on campus dual enrollment classes. Currently she said they have five or six. They want to offer more advanced classes that can be counted as dual enrollment as opposed to just extra credit.
Barris said for the first time the state approved Title I, II, and IV on the first round that they submitted. The total for the three will be $938,008.35. She went over what each title would be for. Title I will cover half of the salaries, parent meetings, private schools (Calvary and Montessori), etc. Title II will provide teacher mentorship, professional development, and private schools. Title IV will provide behavior support, band instruments, district drama, NHD (National History Day) materials, school health advisory, etc.
She said they had also gotten the Innovation Zone grant for $200,000 and $200,000 for Cliff.
Michele McCain said the summer had ramped up for them working on the budget. Some of the funding had been received late and could not be used. They reached out to the state, and they heard their concerns and have made efforts to change. This year they will have 23 funds available before school starts that they have not had in the past.
Board of Education
Montenegro said the finance subcommittee had met and talked a lot about the budget and what McCain had talked about. "The district is at 80 percent salaries to budget which is better than state recommendation." The district has a lot of money coming in and that has to do with the school administration working hard and doing the additional work to bring it in.
Flores said threat assessment did not meet.
Board president
The board did the second reading of policy number G-1360/GBGD, the armed security guard policy.
Board comments
Montenegro said the summer had been going fast. The staff has been working to be ready for the next school year. She noted how well the NHD students had placed.
Diaz said she had received a lot of positive feedback about summer school and the programs. She congratulated all the students with NHD. She thanked everyone that participated in the surveys, town meetings, public comment and emails concerning the policy for arming the security guards. "It is important to hear everyone's views." She hoped everyone enjoyed the summer.
Cohn said he had survived the graduation of his daughter. "It was hard." He thanked all the board members. He also thanked whoever did all the decorating of the board room year-round. "The central office is always great and has a high morale." He thanked the administration and high school for the Innovation Grant. He had an intern through that program and said they might get that person as a full-time employee now. The board had been recognized for their Region 8 meeting having all attend. Cohn wanted to thank everyone one in the community that donates to the schools. "We have phenomenal support."
McMillan apologized for not be at the meeting in person. He hoped all enjoyed their break and thanked those still working.
Flores thanked Hawkins for his hard work and said he had done a great job. "I am glad we have you."
Public comments
Montenegro announced that they only had three minutes to make a comment.
Cyndi Donovan said she had spoken before and didn't want to be redundant. She told them she had graduated from Cliff, her children and now grandchildren attend Silver schools. "Schools get a bad rap sometimes but listening here I get inspired. I know this does not all happen magically, and I really appreciate what you all do." She told them she supported the policy to arm security guards. "I am not a gun-toting redneck. Things have changed in the world and our kids are our most precious gift along with our staff. We protect our money with armed guards. Why would we not protect our children?" She told them she stood by the 2nd amendment and the right to protect. She added she would also like to see the staff trained.
Steven Mitchell thanked the board for all they do. "I wish things were different and be like they were 20 or more years ago. I have an 8-year-old who attends Cliff. He is very important to me, and I love him very much and want him protected." Some of the churches have started to arm the ushers. He asked why the schools would not protect their children. Mitchell commented on all the recent shootings and pointed out that Cliff only has a sheriff deputy and sometimes he is not available. Security guards would not be there to take out that individual but to delay them until help arrives.
Mary Harcinske addressed the board and thanked them for the opportunity. The surveys show a large majority support the policy and more importantly 91 percent of students support the policy. "The data available is incomplete and missing key points. Some are from the 80s which is very old." The data does not cover if that person had been taking medications, family demographics, prior or current contact with law enforcement, bullying, etc. "We need this to understand." She also asked them to resist putting procedural handcuffs on the guards. Some guards in other places have been told to stand down and lives were lost. She thanked the board again.
Bruce Ashburn along with his daughter addressed the board. His daughter had asked him to speak. She has children in the Silver schools. He first apologized to the board that they even had to make this decision. "The fact that schools are used for the vile act makes the need to be proactive on this clear." Most schools do not have armed guards and the perpetrators know this. Guns can shoot the locked doors and windows so that does not prevent something from happening. Some say adding more guns would not be the solution. This would just be another step not a solution. "How can we ask a guard, teacher, or administrator to jump in front of a bullet with no possible recourse but to sacrifice themselves?"
Nick Prince, Town of Silver City councilman, said he would be speaking on a specific part of the policy. He cited studies, "There is nothing to support armed guards will stop a shooting. More shootings happen where they have armed guards and more casualties. Schools that normalize the presence of firearms attract more gun violence." He talked about behavioral health programs and security infrastructure. "Majority of support comes from the same fringe minority that opposes any regulation of firearm access and in the same breath calls for the radicalization and sudden militarization of our public institutions into escalation with no address of underlying issues." He said there had been no law enforcement department that didn't have a record of public violence. "Tragic consequences can happen from retired personnel. My constituent parents are terrified of the consequences of armed security guards."
Action items
The board approved all requests made by McCain. She had checks totaling $3,232,453.89, several adjustments, RFP (request for proposal) award to Stepping Stone for speech language services and Freedom Southwest for fire alarms. The approval also included many donations.
AZNM Property Holdings LLC (McDonalds) - La Plata Middle School (LPMS) NHD (National History Day) - $2,000
Beck Family Dental – LPMS NHD nationals - $2,000
Beck Family – SHS (Silver High School) NHD nationals - $3,000
Raul and Michelle Diaz – SHS NHD - $500
Dolce Vita LLC – SHS NHD - $500
Finishing Touch Home Interiors – SHS NHD - $500
Karl and Laura Phelps – SHS NHD - $500
Morales 4 NM – LPMS NHD - $500
PNMR Foundation – NHD - $2,000
PNMR Foundation Volunteer, Sports Medicine - $800
Silver City Dental – LPMS NHD - $500
Silver City Rotary Foundation – SHS NHD nationals - $500
Town of Silver City – LPMS NHD - $5,000
Town of Silver City – SHS NHD - $10,000
Western New Mexico University – SHS Automotive - $500
Western New Mexico University – NHD -$500
Victor Nwachuku, MD, PC – LPMS NHD - $1,000
Victor Oaxaca, transportation director, did not have a report for the board.
The board approved the IDEA-B application
The board approved the applications for Title I, II, IV.
The board approved the modification to vacation time carryover.
The board approved policy No. G-1360/GBGD for armed school security guard policy.
Public comments
At this time each board member made comments concerning the armed guard policy they had just all approved.
Diaz said she had personally been against this. "More guns are not the answer." The country and world have seen more mental illness and more shootings. She brought up something said during public comment, the world had changed. "The gun does not create the problem. It is the human behind it, and I think we can all agree on this." She said it had been a very difficult decision. She looks at evidence based information no matter the decision. As alluded by Harcinske (public comment) there have been plenty of studies with plenty of bias. If you look at medical data, it would be futile to add more guns and if you look at law enforcement it says why have you not done it yet. "I have to balance being a responsible board member and professional. I looked at the surveys, listened to my constituents and most importantly the students and how they feel. An overwhelming majority are in favor of this. I am not convinced this will make us more safe. We have to see this as another layer." She asked the question if they would be safer or just feeling safer. The kids have to feel safe. All needs need to be evaluated. "We have to have constant reevaluation; there is not a perfect solution." Diaz pointed out they had spent a lot of time on this, and they had to spend as much on mental and physical well-being of the children. "We have a grant for this and better get it right." She crusaded moving forward and "I am tired of talking about this. It was something we needed to take seriously and talk about, but it is a small dot on the map. We need to regroup and focus on the kids." This will not cost the district a lot of money. "Better get the mental health grant right. This has been about people with mental illness having access to weapons and that is where the control is at the legislature." She continued that this problem happens because people don't have access to mental health. Access needs to be extended. She thanked everyone for their feedback on the issue.
Montenegro had a very emotional comment. "We have left no stone unturned; this is just another layer. It is a sad day for the kids, but this is reality."
Cohn said he had many parents come to his home and talk to him along with kids to give their views. He said recently, as a public official he had a threat, and this became a lot more real. "Personally, I think we will have to have a tragedy for people to come together and reunite." He thanked everyone who came and talked to him and said it had been a hard vote.
Flores said six years ago he had campaigned on this need for security in the schools. He said he appreciated everyone working towards where they had come to. He appreciated everyone's feedback, for and against. He said he had read what the Silver City Daily Press had written but reminded everyone the board does not represent the town. "We represent the school district." Stats can be skewed or distorted like Diaz had pointed out. Survey statistics can have bias. "There is no bias on the number of fatalities every day and there is no bias when a parent has to be taken to identify their child that just got killed." Flores said in his career he had to give some of those death notices. He had heard some parents would not send their child to Silver Schools if this passed and that would be their prerogative. He pointed out that Aldo Leopold school is armed. "They are located on WNMU campus, and I am police chief there so if they have a problem, they call us. My officers are all armed." Flores said other schools would follow their lead. All the parents and students he had spoken to have wondered why this had not been done before and were grateful the board has come to this point. "Our job as school board members is to ensure the safety of our students and staff." This will add another layer of safety to the schools. "Seconds mean lives and I have said it numerous times."
Threat assessment has been addressing crisis intervention. "We have been addressing mental health and now with this grant we can address it more."
"We live in another world today. I grew up here and am a product of Silver schools. We never discussed school shootings (graduated in 1984); it was unheard of. We live in a different world and have to prepare our kids."
Flores brought up some experience he had. A comment had been made that kids would be threatened by guards carrying guns, but the schools have asked police officers to teach DARE. He had been a DARE officer some years back and said "kids loved us and didn't have any fear."
McMillan said it had not been an easy decision as all the board had said. He appreciated all the input from everyone. "We have a policy as good as it can get."
No other public comment currently.
The next regular board meeting will take place July 24, 2023
Finance committee will meet July 20, 2023
Adjourned.