By Lynn Janes

The Cobre Consolidated School Board held a regular meeting on October 17, 2024. Board members in attendance included Gabriella Begay, Gilbert Guadiana, David Terrazas (online), Angelina Hardin, and Emmarie Heredia. Superintendent Michael Koury also attended online.

Alma Grijalva, supervisor of food service, had a report for the board. In October they had a total of 942 students enrolled and in September they had served 13,476 breakfasts and 13,855 lunches and 7,718 snacks. The department had recently had an inspection and didn't have any findings except for Cobre High School and that had to do with the tiles. The freezer still has not been fixed due to delay on parts. Grijalva said she had put in work orders to have the tile fixed for a few years and maintenance still has not taken care of the problem.

Guadiana asked why the problem with the tiles had not been done. Grijalva said she has done numerous work orders, but it has not been taken care of. Koury said he would look into why.

Begay had some parents reach out to her. Their kids bring their lunch but would like to have the milk. They had been told they would have to pay for it and Begay wanted to know why. Breakfast and Lunch now has been provided to all students for free. Grijalva said if the student would get a tray and pick three items out of 5, they can have it for free. They must have a meal associated with the milk to have the state reimburse the cost. She had written PED (public education department) and explained the situation. The response from PED had been if they did not have a meal associated with the milk they would have to pay for it. The student could take the milk and choose a fruit and vegetable, and they would not be charged.

The board had a lot of discussion over the policy and how to find a way around it. The policy creates wasted food. Guadiana asked why they could not just hand them a tray with milk on it. Grijalva said they must come through the line and choose three items to be reimbursed. When a student does not want something, they can put it in the share bin and milk can be found there but not until the end of lunch.

Begay asked Frank Ryan, finance director, if the school could just pay for the milk. Ryan went over the process of obtaining reimbursement from the state. Begay said, "So the state would rather have food thrown away just so kids can get milk?" Guadiana said every student has been eligible for free lunch and he didn't understand the problem. Begay said it seemed like the kids just didn't want to wait in line. Hardin wanted to know what they do with the leftovers in the shared bin at the end of the lunch or breakfast. They talked about if the left over milk could be set aside for the next day and given to the students that just wanted milk. Grijalva said they would have to ask the PED for permission. Guadiana asked what the cost of the milk would be and Grijalva told him 75 cents.

New Mexico PED would be providing training on nutrition because of SB4 legislation.

On Thursday November 7, 2024, they would be having Thanksgiving in the cafeteria and the tickets would be on sale in the office.

Grijalva would be attending the Golden Chile Award ceremony in Albuquerque on October 24, 2024, because Cobre had won an award, and she would be attending to receive it.

Cobre had been chosen for a study being done by the United Stated Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA will be doing it at Bayard Elementary and Snell Middle School. They have already started online meetings and planning. Guadiana asked what they would be studying. Grijalva had been told it would help the USDA make better decisions that affect schools. Cobre had been one of 200 districts chosen nationwide and one of four in New Mexico. Part of the study will be surveying the students and parents to find out the dislikes and preferences.

Heredia asked why the Thanksgiving meal tickets had been so high. "How did you arrive at this price?" Grijalva said it had to do with the cost of food and how high it had become. They discussed proportions and sizes of the meals.

Katelyn Church, coordinator of technology, had a report for the board. She said the last one had been sunny, but this one would not be. One of her helpers, Benjamin Salas, would be leaving for a position at the hospital. He had helped for the past year and allowed her to accomplish a lot more than she could have otherwise. She thanked Salas for the year he had given her.

They have been having problems with the Alexia Learning Program. The company has admitted the problems had been their fault. Begay asked if they would receive a discount because of it. Church said she would ask.

On a positive note, Church had been selected to speak at a tech conference. She hoped to have Salas replaced and the person trained so she could attend. She had three interviews the following week and all three had previous experience.

The tech department would be receiving their bids for the RFP (request for proposal) for server and storage

LaVerne Martinez, Hurley Elementary principal, had a report for the board. She had a lot of good news and had submitted her DASH plan and other required documents. She spoke to the professional development that they had participated in and went over their goals, accomplishments and weaknesses found. She would be doing more walk throughs of classrooms than done in the past. Martinez then went over all the data from testing and the growth they had from the previous year. Many of the scores had been low but they still had improvement.

Action Items

The board approved the minutes of the September 23, 2024, regular board meeting.

The board approved the RFP for school-based sign language interpreter services. They had only received one bid, but they met all aspects. They approved ASL LLC.

The board approved the RFP for school based physical therapy services. They had only received one bid, but they met all aspects. They approved Abeyta Physical Therapy which currently has the contract.

The board approved the bills. Begay said they had not met and had viewed documents by email.

The board approved the initial budget for Education Fellows program. PED had approved them for more positions for a total of nine now. Currently they have five filled. Guadiana could not understand why they all had not been filled because of the opportunity. Ryan said they have continued to advertise for the positions. The position gives the person a salary and stipend. Begay and Heredia both commented on how hard it has been to find teachers and it has continued to become harder. Guadiana thought they should look to innovations program for students interested in teaching. He had been told the kids have not been interested.

The board approved the budget transfer for pre-K. Ryan explained the reason for the transfer. PED had reclassified a salary, and they just had to move it in the budget.

The board approved the initial budget for summer reading program transportation. Ryan explained that PED had provided less funding, and some adjustments had to be made. Gaudian had concerns for the program and Begay asked if they would be able to continue the program. Suzanne Chavira, director of academics, said they had many problems, but it had been successful and would do it as long as they could.

The board approved the fourth quarter financial report. Ryan said the report had already been submitted to PED. He went over the report and the finance committee had approved. Guadiana had questions about the negative balances and Ryan explained that many things the district has to spend the money before they can be reimbursed so it leaves a negative balance for a short time.

New business

The cost of the milk in the cafeteria had already been discussed earlier in the meeting during Grijalva's report.

Finance Committee report

Begay said they had not met and didn't have one.

Gaudian said the audit committee had met two times. The first one they had been missing some people and could not make any decisions, but the second one had enough people and decided that the administration plan would be the more expedient way to proceed. The district currently has been three audits behind, and Guadiana asked Koury how that would impact the funding for building a new school.

Board members reports

Hardin thanked everyone involved in the Homecoming Parade.

Heredia agreed with Hardin. "We have so many special traditions and special people."

Begay agreed about homecoming. She had been a judge for the floats and had fun. She had attended a dinner with the university and Freeport McMoRan about education.

Guadiana had attended the dinner also and agreed about the Homecoming Parade. They had spoken to the decrease in funding and why it had happened at the dinner.

Terrazas thanked everyone involved in the Homecoming Parade.

Superintendents report.

Koury gave the board an update on the portable housing units. The funding would be available. He must obtain an itemized list from the contractor and then it should move quickly.

Beyond textbooks, Koury wanted to make the board aware of a program that would help teachers. Vale, Arizona has been using it very successfully. He explained how the system works and said it works with common core standards and works well with small districts to make many things easier for the teachers. Begay asked what the cost would be. Chavira said initial cost would be $13,000 for a half year starting in January 2025. The next school year would be $30,000 of which most of that covers training and then it would be $15,000 the following year. The first six months would be a soft roll out to see if it would be beneficial. The funding would come from the instruction budget. Koury had also spoken with the Quemado district, and they have used it for seven to eight years. It will not be a core curriculum but just a resource for the teachers. Resources had been something the district had struggled with for some time as a small district. He encouraged the board to go to the website and try the demo offered so it would all make more sense.

Koury will have the staff evaluations ready at the next meeting. They discussed the next meeting that would have been November 11, 2024, but that would be Veterans Day, so they moved the next meeting to November 18, 2024.

The board went into executive session to discuss the audits.

The board came back into open session and said not actions had taken place.

Meeting adjourned.