Community Members Donate Money to School

At the school board meeting of June 8, 2009, the board accepted the following donations from community members:

Madison Everett donated $1,000 to the High School. According to Mr. Hancock, this money will be put into direct instruction to be used for the benefit of students.

Martin & Diane Stewart donated $350 to be spent on German books for the High School's German language class.

School Board Agenda Publication

I asked the school board and Superintendent Hancock at the June 8, 2009 school board meeting to start posting the school board agenda on the outside window so it could be visible to the public outside of normal administration business hours. Superintendent Hancock and Administrative Secretary Teresa Housler agreed to this. Mr. Hancock also said that the agenda would start being posted on the school's web page www.cmsbears.org at the beginning of the next school year.

According to the Open Meetings Compliance Guide published by the New Mexico Attorney General http://www.nmag.gov/pdf/AGO%20OMA%20Guide.pdf
"Meeting notices shall include an agenda containing a list of specific items of business to be discussed or transacted at the meeting or information on how the public may obtain a copy of such an agenda. Except in the case of an emergency, the agenda shall be available to the public at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the meeting. Except for emergency matters, a public body shall take action only on items appearing on the agenda. For purposes of this Subsection, an “emergency” refers to unforeseen circumstances that, if not addressed immediately by the public body, will likely result in injury or damage to persons or property or substantial financial
loss to the public body."

School Board Member Resigns

School board member Terry Winkles has resigned effective July 1, 2009. All school board members expressed their thanks for his service at the meeting held June 8, 2009.

Also discussed was the method which would be used to select his replacement. The board discussed having applicants submit a letter of intent by mid-July. The board will also develop a list of 10 questions that each applicant would be asked at the meeting scheduled for August 10, 2009. After each candidate presents a 2-3 minute introduction, and answers the same 10 questions, the board will decide in an open meeting who will replace Mr. Winkles.

Dual Credit and the IEP

The last I heard, the Dual Credit program would continue to be limited to 100-level classes. However, if a student has an IEP, that student would not be limited as to what classes would be available for dual credit.

If you are not familiar with an IEP (Individualized Education Program), it is part of the Special Education program. In New Mexico, that program includes kids from both ends of the intellectual spectrum. 

Another thing an IEP offers is CLOUT. If it is in that IEP, then the school better be paying attention to it.

So now the bottom line seems to be that kids with IEPs have no restrictions, while the other 80% of the students will continue to be limited to whatever 100-level courses are on the list approved by Cloudcroft.

How does this set with the parents of students that don't have IEPs?

Dual Credit

My first experience with Dual Credit came when my daughter wanted to take a class at NMSUA this summer. What I came to learn about the Dual Credit program was:

• The dual credit program would allow a student to take a college class and receive both college credit and credit for 1 elective at the High School level
• The University waives the tuition costs, CMS picks up the tab for books and "supplies", and the parents/students are responsible for transportation and course-specific fees.
  
• CMS has a list of courses that it will approve for dual credit. This list contains only some of the 100-level courses that are offered by the University (while Alamogordo HS has no limitations as to what courses it will approve).
• There are no written criteria for how a course is deemed to be acceptable for the Cloudcroft list
  
• Cloudcroft defines entry-level courses as 100-level, while the University has several entry level courses that are 200-level
• The legislature has funded the program, but the bill that would outline how those funds are to be dispersed did not pass the state senate. The funds still have not been dispursed to the schools
• Future funding will be based upon the number of students who participated in the program the prior year
• Probably fewer than 10 Cloudcroft students took advantage of the dual credit program this past school year
  

Why Is This Blog Here?

There are A LOT of teachers, administrators, board members, et al, who truly seem to care about the educational opportunities available to Cloudcroft students.

The goal of this blog is to support those who are dedicated to bringing our childrent the best possible education by reinforcing the fact that we, as parents and the community, are watching...and talking...and participating...and WE CARE.