The podcast for last night's meeting is available at http://cmsbears.podbean.com
The article covering this meeting can be found here.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Agenda for School Board Meeting to be held December 13, 2010
Here is the agenda for Monday's meeting.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
School Board Meeting November 8, 2010 *Updated with Article*
The podcast of last night's meeting is available at http://cmsbears.podbean.com/
Among the items discussed were proposed policy changes to the discipline policy. I have included a link to the documents that were provided to the Board members.
Here is a summary of the meeting from the Alamogordo Daily News.
Among the items discussed were proposed policy changes to the discipline policy. I have included a link to the documents that were provided to the Board members.
Here is a summary of the meeting from the Alamogordo Daily News.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Alamogordo Daily News article covering School Board Meeting
Here is the article from the Alamogordo Daily News covering Monday's School Board Meeting.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
School Board Meeting October 11, 2010
The podcast of this meeting is available at www.cmsbears.podbean.com. During the meeting, Superintendent Tommy Hancock gave a presentation he called "school finance 101" where he outlined how the state allocates money and some of the constraints that are placed on the school as to how they can spend the money. Part of this presentation included copies of the financial overhead presentation that he gave last month with the source of the funds noted.
Also discussed at the meeting was the upcoming school board election. There are three four-year terms up for grabs. Those positions are currently held by Doug Porch, Ed Woten and Terry Butram. Doug Porch mentioned that he would run again. I did not hear Ed Woten or Terry Butram declare their intentions.
If anyone is interested in running for the school board, they must declare their candidacy on December 21, 2010 between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the Otero County Clerk's Office. There is only one day to get on the ballot. If you miss this date, then you have until December 28, 2010 to be a write-in candidate. The election will be held on February 1, 2011.
Business Manager Sharlotte Lund mentioned that most of the 3.2% operational budget cut was being covered with Federal stimulus money from the Educational Job Fund. After those monies are applied to salaries, the school is left with a $17,000 budget cut.
Also discussed at the meeting was the upcoming school board election. There are three four-year terms up for grabs. Those positions are currently held by Doug Porch, Ed Woten and Terry Butram. Doug Porch mentioned that he would run again. I did not hear Ed Woten or Terry Butram declare their intentions.
If anyone is interested in running for the school board, they must declare their candidacy on December 21, 2010 between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the Otero County Clerk's Office. There is only one day to get on the ballot. If you miss this date, then you have until December 28, 2010 to be a write-in candidate. The election will be held on February 1, 2011.
Business Manager Sharlotte Lund mentioned that most of the 3.2% operational budget cut was being covered with Federal stimulus money from the Educational Job Fund. After those monies are applied to salaries, the school is left with a $17,000 budget cut.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Regular School Board Meeting September 13, 2010
The podcast is posted for tonight's meeting. This posting has been updated to include copies of the overhead presentation given by the Superintendent.
As you will hear in the podcast, most of the meeting was routine, with the exception of the Superintendent's presentation, which lasted about 30 minutes. During this presentation, the Superintendent covered the various improvements that have been made to the schools over the past three years, and the improvements that the school cannot afford to make. He used a "to do" list developed three years ago and blocked out the columns where the architect had estimated the cost of the proposed projects. (These were also blocked out in the copies he provided to me.) He started with a summary for the elementary and middle school. (overhead 1) He gave me some additional information to pass along that wasn't provided at the meeting. (overhead 1A). Then he discussed improvements made at the high school and what the school could not afford to do. (overhead 2).
In the second half of his presentation, the Superintendent addressed some public input (complaints?) that he has received along the lines of the organization being top-heavy. He used this overhead as a visual aid. He also gave me a summary to pass along that was not used at the meeting. (overhead 3A).
Again, all of these overheads will be much more useful if you look at them while listening to the podcast.
There was some discussion during the Financial presentation as to whether or not the closing of the campus will translate into cafeteria profits. The jury seems to still be out on that one.
As you will hear in the podcast, most of the meeting was routine, with the exception of the Superintendent's presentation, which lasted about 30 minutes. During this presentation, the Superintendent covered the various improvements that have been made to the schools over the past three years, and the improvements that the school cannot afford to make. He used a "to do" list developed three years ago and blocked out the columns where the architect had estimated the cost of the proposed projects. (These were also blocked out in the copies he provided to me.) He started with a summary for the elementary and middle school. (overhead 1) He gave me some additional information to pass along that wasn't provided at the meeting. (overhead 1A). Then he discussed improvements made at the high school and what the school could not afford to do. (overhead 2).
In the second half of his presentation, the Superintendent addressed some public input (complaints?) that he has received along the lines of the organization being top-heavy. He used this overhead as a visual aid. He also gave me a summary to pass along that was not used at the meeting. (overhead 3A).
Again, all of these overheads will be much more useful if you look at them while listening to the podcast.
There was some discussion during the Financial presentation as to whether or not the closing of the campus will translate into cafeteria profits. The jury seems to still be out on that one.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Agenda for September 13, 2010 School Board Meeting
Here is the agenda for the regular meeting scheduled for Monday, September 13, 2010 at 6 p.m.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Alamogordo Daily News Article Covering School Board Meeting of Aug. 10th
The Alamogordo Daily News covered the August 8th meeting. The article can be found here.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Regular School Board Meeting of August 9, 2010
The podcast is loaded for tonight's meeting. Visit http://cmsbears.podbean.com to hear the entire meeting, or download it from ITunes. Board Member Doug Porch was not present due to illness.
The financial portion of the agenda was not addressed, as Sharlotte was out. Under Action Items, there was a handout outlining how the school would cut $122,400 from the budget. (These changes were approved). There was considerable discussion about student travel, and some discussion as to the potential revenue gained by closing the High School campus.
Under the Assistant Superintendent's Report there was discussion as to Cloudcroft Schools meeting AYP and how to interpret the results. Visit the New Mexico Public Education Department's website to see the detailed AYP reports.
The Superintendent's Report covered disabling computer downloads for students. (I had some questions about that.)
The financial portion of the agenda was not addressed, as Sharlotte was out. Under Action Items, there was a handout outlining how the school would cut $122,400 from the budget. (These changes were approved). There was considerable discussion about student travel, and some discussion as to the potential revenue gained by closing the High School campus.
Under the Assistant Superintendent's Report there was discussion as to Cloudcroft Schools meeting AYP and how to interpret the results. Visit the New Mexico Public Education Department's website to see the detailed AYP reports.
The Superintendent's Report covered disabling computer downloads for students. (I had some questions about that.)
Agenda for August 9, 2010 School Board Meeting
Here is the agenda for tonight's meeting. I'm interested in hearing about those budget changes.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Mr. Hancock Responds
In my prior posting I included a copy of a letter that I sent to Mr. Hancock and the School Board Members. In it I offered some suggestions as to ways that the school could better inform the public of upcoming special meetings. Here is Mr. Hancock's response to that letter:
Great minds travel the same path. Number 1 would only notify parents and to add others would be at an expense that we just cannot take on, Number 3 we have those blocked on our network, number 2 is the one that I have already started Joel working on. It is my thinking that this will work if Joel can overcome some issues caused by our network software. He has been working on that and thinks that it can be done but still not sure (it is a network software issue). If this will eventually work then we will have a list that one could sign up for to receive an e-mail about special meeting that are convened on short notice such as the one last Monday night. This will require that one contact Joel to be added to the list. This is not in place yet but I hope that it will be soon. You can see that we were thinking alike on number two. If this gets up and running I will let you know.
Great minds travel the same path. Number 1 would only notify parents and to add others would be at an expense that we just cannot take on, Number 3 we have those blocked on our network, number 2 is the one that I have already started Joel working on. It is my thinking that this will work if Joel can overcome some issues caused by our network software. He has been working on that and thinks that it can be done but still not sure (it is a network software issue). If this will eventually work then we will have a list that one could sign up for to receive an e-mail about special meeting that are convened on short notice such as the one last Monday night. This will require that one contact Joel to be added to the list. This is not in place yet but I hope that it will be soon. You can see that we were thinking alike on number two. If this gets up and running I will let you know.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Special School Board Meeting Held Last Night
I discovered today that there was a special school board meeting held last night. It sounds like the topic of discussion was further budget cuts. Unfortunately, I didn't know about the meeting, so there is no podcast available. I have long had a problem with the way that the school notifies the public of special meetings. Below is the letter I sent to Mr. Hancock and every member of the school board outlining my concerns and possible solutions:
Dear Tommy,
I discovered today that there was a special board meeting last night. I wish I had known about it ahead of time so I could have included its podcast on my blog, but I don’t routinely stop by the school to read the window. I realize that the school does the minimum which is required by law as to posting notification of public meetings when someone tapes the notice to the window by the gym and gives the notices to the post offices in hopes that they will post them. I am fully aware that you are loath to start an email list to notify people such as myself (People Concerned About Cloudcroft Schools blog) or Jennifer Smith (the Alamogordo Daily News) of special meetings out of fear that “everyone else” will want to be included in that notification, thus taking too much of your or your staff’s time. However, I think that you need to be open to alternative methods of communication if you are sincerely interested in having the public participate in public meetings.
The school has made significant investments in technology, so I assume that means that you and the school board recognize that it is an important tool in the educational process. Unfortunately, when it comes to public meeting notification no one wants to use the technology that you have readily available. I would suggest that the following notification methods could easily be employed by the school with minimal time and effort. I only suggest that these methods be used when it comes to special public meetings that are convened at the last minute...such as the one that you had last night.
1. Use the phone notification system that the school has in place.
2. Establish an email list and allow members of the public who want to be on that list to add their email addresses.
3. Set up a Twitter or Facebook account that can be updated, then anyone who wants notification can sign up for text or email notification.
If you are truly interested in encouraging public participation, then any of these methods could be implemented quickly and at no cost to the school. Expecting people to stop by the school on a daily basis to see if anything has been taped to the window is not reasonable. It is a waste of time, fuel and energy. It is, however, ideal if you want to do the absolute minimum.
Dear Tommy,
I discovered today that there was a special board meeting last night. I wish I had known about it ahead of time so I could have included its podcast on my blog, but I don’t routinely stop by the school to read the window. I realize that the school does the minimum which is required by law as to posting notification of public meetings when someone tapes the notice to the window by the gym and gives the notices to the post offices in hopes that they will post them. I am fully aware that you are loath to start an email list to notify people such as myself (People Concerned About Cloudcroft Schools blog) or Jennifer Smith (the Alamogordo Daily News) of special meetings out of fear that “everyone else” will want to be included in that notification, thus taking too much of your or your staff’s time. However, I think that you need to be open to alternative methods of communication if you are sincerely interested in having the public participate in public meetings.
The school has made significant investments in technology, so I assume that means that you and the school board recognize that it is an important tool in the educational process. Unfortunately, when it comes to public meeting notification no one wants to use the technology that you have readily available. I would suggest that the following notification methods could easily be employed by the school with minimal time and effort. I only suggest that these methods be used when it comes to special public meetings that are convened at the last minute...such as the one that you had last night.
1. Use the phone notification system that the school has in place.
2. Establish an email list and allow members of the public who want to be on that list to add their email addresses.
3. Set up a Twitter or Facebook account that can be updated, then anyone who wants notification can sign up for text or email notification.
If you are truly interested in encouraging public participation, then any of these methods could be implemented quickly and at no cost to the school. Expecting people to stop by the school on a daily basis to see if anything has been taped to the window is not reasonable. It is a waste of time, fuel and energy. It is, however, ideal if you want to do the absolute minimum.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
School Board Meeting July 12, 2010
I was out of town for the meeting, but someone did record it. You can find the podcast here. You can find the agenda here.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
School Spends $43,000 to Wire a Wireless Network
In listening to the school board meeting, I was interested to learn that the school spent $43,000 to wire a wireless network for all of the schools. I'm sure it was just an amusing choice of words...I was sure amused.
But on a more serious note, the High School currently has wireless...the only problem is the IT person won't give ANYONE the password...not teachers...not administrators...certainly not students! If the school is going to spend this kind of money to develop a wireless network, they darned well better give Students, Teachers and Administrators unfettered access to it!
But on a more serious note, the High School currently has wireless...the only problem is the IT person won't give ANYONE the password...not teachers...not administrators...certainly not students! If the school is going to spend this kind of money to develop a wireless network, they darned well better give Students, Teachers and Administrators unfettered access to it!
School Board Meeting June 14, 2010
The Alamogordo Daily News coverage of the meeting can be found here.
The podcast of the meeting can be found at http://cmsbears.podbean.com.
The podcast of the meeting can be found at http://cmsbears.podbean.com.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Agenda for June 14, 2010 School Board Meeting
Here is the agenda for the school board meeting to be held Monday, June 14, 2010 at 6 pm.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
K-5 Language Arts Book Adoption
The school will be adopting new Language Arts books this year. On Wednesday, May 19th at 3:30 p.m., three publishing companies will be presenting their books for parents and teachers. The even will be held in the Media Room at the Middle School.
Regular School Board Meeting of May 10, 2010
First, mea culpa for not posting the agenda last week! But I did make it to the board meeting and you can find a complete podcast of the meeting at http://cmsbears.podbean.com.
There were 2 visitors at the meeting. Mary Lutz spoke to her concern that the budget restrictions could remove teachers from the younger children. She wanted to see the classroom sizes kept small in the K-3 ages and, if teachers had to be moved and class sizes increased, have that done with the older grades.
The second visitor was Steve O'Connor. He spoke about the 5th and 6th graders going to Honor Band in T or C and how well they did. He also cautioned that 2011 and 2012 budgets could be worse than this years and that everyone should plan appropriately and get input from the community. He said he would like to hear some kind of summary of the budget committee meetings at the school board meetings.
In action items, the board appointed an Audit Advisory Committee as required by HB227. Board President Buttram received two letters of interest...one from me and one from Denny Schilling. He asked if anyone else would be interested and Jim Maynard threw his name into the hat as well. So all three of us will serve with board members Doug Porch and Bill Denny on this committee.
In other action items, the board approved the Elementary Art Program Application (the program will pretty much be the same as it was this year) and the Title I and Title II Applications.
The board also approved the 2010-2011 Budget. In the podcast, you will hear Sharlotte refer to a phone review with PED where they went over "the analysis." She also provided handouts of the budget.
The board approved the transportation contracts for Mr. Taylor in the amount of $35,960 and Mr. Swope in the amount of $202,617.
With school drawing to a close, there were numerous upcoming events announced in the information items.
There were 2 visitors at the meeting. Mary Lutz spoke to her concern that the budget restrictions could remove teachers from the younger children. She wanted to see the classroom sizes kept small in the K-3 ages and, if teachers had to be moved and class sizes increased, have that done with the older grades.
The second visitor was Steve O'Connor. He spoke about the 5th and 6th graders going to Honor Band in T or C and how well they did. He also cautioned that 2011 and 2012 budgets could be worse than this years and that everyone should plan appropriately and get input from the community. He said he would like to hear some kind of summary of the budget committee meetings at the school board meetings.
In action items, the board appointed an Audit Advisory Committee as required by HB227. Board President Buttram received two letters of interest...one from me and one from Denny Schilling. He asked if anyone else would be interested and Jim Maynard threw his name into the hat as well. So all three of us will serve with board members Doug Porch and Bill Denny on this committee.
In other action items, the board approved the Elementary Art Program Application (the program will pretty much be the same as it was this year) and the Title I and Title II Applications.
The board also approved the 2010-2011 Budget. In the podcast, you will hear Sharlotte refer to a phone review with PED where they went over "the analysis." She also provided handouts of the budget.
The board approved the transportation contracts for Mr. Taylor in the amount of $35,960 and Mr. Swope in the amount of $202,617.
With school drawing to a close, there were numerous upcoming events announced in the information items.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Budget Committee Documents
The next Budget Committee Meeting is scheduled for April 19. Some background on last year's actual versus budgeted expenditures can be found here. The estimated budget was emailed to the committee members yesterday and can be seen here.
UPDATE FOR APRIL 19 MEETING: An additional handout was supplied offering more detail as to the specifics behind the categories in the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 budgets. The committee worked off of the numbers provided in the handouts linked to above. No changes were made to the allocations at the meeting.
UPDATE FOR APRIL 19 MEETING: An additional handout was supplied offering more detail as to the specifics behind the categories in the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 budgets. The committee worked off of the numbers provided in the handouts linked to above. No changes were made to the allocations at the meeting.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Open Letter from Dulaney Barrett
Dulaney Barrett has asked me to publish this letter which is his response to the Special Board Meeting held to address the School Board's violation of the Open Meetings Act when appointing D'dre Brock and Ed Woten to the School Board.
In his letter, Dulaney refers to various blog postings from cmsbears.net. To help you follow his letter, I have linked to those postings:
Open Meetings Act notification (dated February 5, 2010)
Request for Letters of Intent (while I requested copies of these letters in November, I only received Dulaney's letter and was not successful in obtaining a copy of Ed's)
In his letter, Dulaney refers to various blog postings from cmsbears.net. To help you follow his letter, I have linked to those postings:
Open Meetings Act notification (dated February 5, 2010)
Request for Letters of Intent (while I requested copies of these letters in November, I only received Dulaney's letter and was not successful in obtaining a copy of Ed's)
Letter to Mr. Hancock Outlining State Budget Concerns
Mr. Hancock asked me to post the following:
Attached is a letter that everyone should read. I would like for the Mountain Monthly, Margo, and our web site to please publish the letter. People need to know what things are like as we develop our budget for the 2010-2011 school year.
Tommy Hancock, Superintendent
Cloudcroft Municipal Schools
PO Box 198
Cloudcroft, New Mexico 88317
575-601-4416
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Alamogordo Daily News April School Board Meeting Coverage
Here is the article for the April School Board meeting.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Summary and Podcast of School Board Meeting held April 5, 2010
You can find a podcast of the meeting at http://cmsbears.podbean.com. For convenience sake, you may choose to listen to the podcast in ITunes, which will let you skip to the chapters that you are interested in. Just search for Cloudcroft in the ITunes store and you should find the podcast. Sometimes it takes them a day to update their podcasts.
To briefly summarize the meeting, the board approved all of the Action Items with the exception of appointing the Audit Committee, which they tabled. If you are interested in serving on the Audit committee, it will consist of two Board members, plus a parent of a student in the school, plus a community member with knowledge of accounting/auditing principles. They should be selecting the committee at the next meeting.
The Finance Committee will consist of Ed Woten and Jackie Cates, who also serve on the Budget Committee.
The Board approved consolidation of the School's bank accounts. Apparently, the school has 7 different bank accounts, which the Business Manager Sharlotte Lund explained makes it very easy to kite checks and misappropriate funds (per the Auditor) so the auditor has recommended that these accounts be consolidated. What was not addressed publicly was (1) how long ago the auditor made these recommendations, (2) have any of the other auditors made this recommendation and (3) how long has the school maintained multiple accounts. As a member of the public, I found this odd. The board agreed that the opportunity for fraud was there and approved consolidating the accounts.
The Board approved the Open Meeting Resolution, which is the same as last years' only with a date change. Doug Porch did note that the Agenda has not been getting posted in the Cloudcroft Post Office and asked that Teresa fax him a copy when it is done so he could personally take it over there (right now Teresa mails it to the post office.) I also couldn't help but pipe up and ask once again that they post the agenda to the school's website, which was supposed to start happening last July. See: (http://cmsbearsinfo.blogspot.com/2009/06/school-board-agenda-publication.html). It sounds like Teresa is sending the agenda to Wanetta Ferguson (wife of the school's Technology & Network Administrator Joel Ferguson) and assuming from there that they are being posted. I assured her that I check on a regular basis and they are usually not posted.
Next year's school calendar should look very much like this year's, and was approved by the Board.
To briefly summarize the meeting, the board approved all of the Action Items with the exception of appointing the Audit Committee, which they tabled. If you are interested in serving on the Audit committee, it will consist of two Board members, plus a parent of a student in the school, plus a community member with knowledge of accounting/auditing principles. They should be selecting the committee at the next meeting.
The Finance Committee will consist of Ed Woten and Jackie Cates, who also serve on the Budget Committee.
The Board approved consolidation of the School's bank accounts. Apparently, the school has 7 different bank accounts, which the Business Manager Sharlotte Lund explained makes it very easy to kite checks and misappropriate funds (per the Auditor) so the auditor has recommended that these accounts be consolidated. What was not addressed publicly was (1) how long ago the auditor made these recommendations, (2) have any of the other auditors made this recommendation and (3) how long has the school maintained multiple accounts. As a member of the public, I found this odd. The board agreed that the opportunity for fraud was there and approved consolidating the accounts.
The Board approved the Open Meeting Resolution, which is the same as last years' only with a date change. Doug Porch did note that the Agenda has not been getting posted in the Cloudcroft Post Office and asked that Teresa fax him a copy when it is done so he could personally take it over there (right now Teresa mails it to the post office.) I also couldn't help but pipe up and ask once again that they post the agenda to the school's website, which was supposed to start happening last July. See: (http://cmsbearsinfo.blogspot.com/2009/06/school-board-agenda-publication.html). It sounds like Teresa is sending the agenda to Wanetta Ferguson (wife of the school's Technology & Network Administrator Joel Ferguson) and assuming from there that they are being posted. I assured her that I check on a regular basis and they are usually not posted.
Next year's school calendar should look very much like this year's, and was approved by the Board.
Budget Committee Meeting Podcast and Handout
The Budget Committee met today and was given this handout. You can listen to a podcast of the meeting at http://cmsbears.podbean.com.
As a member of the committee, I'm still trying to sort out in my head just what input (if any) the school is looking for. As you will hear from the podcast, most of the meeting consisted of the Superintendent and the Business Manager telling us what guesstimates they think they will be plugging into the budget. I have asked that the committee receive last year's budget estimates versus actuals (in the same categories as we were given), as that seems to me to be a logical starting point in the budget process. It sounds like this information will have to be "created" for the committee and the Business Manager isn't sure when she'll have a chance to get to that. I am hoping that it will be prior to the next meeting, which is the day before the budget is due to PED.
As a member of the committee, I'm still trying to sort out in my head just what input (if any) the school is looking for. As you will hear from the podcast, most of the meeting consisted of the Superintendent and the Business Manager telling us what guesstimates they think they will be plugging into the budget. I have asked that the committee receive last year's budget estimates versus actuals (in the same categories as we were given), as that seems to me to be a logical starting point in the budget process. It sounds like this information will have to be "created" for the committee and the Business Manager isn't sure when she'll have a chance to get to that. I am hoping that it will be prior to the next meeting, which is the day before the budget is due to PED.
Quality of Education Survey
The 2009-2010 Quality of Education Survey is up and running on the PED website. You can access instructions on how to complete one (or more) for Cloudcroft Schools here. You can also go to the PED website at http://164.64.166.19/studentsurvey/surveyframe.asp
Now is your chance to complete the online survey. It is a pathetic example of apathy that only 39 surveys were submitted last year.
Now is your chance to complete the online survey. It is a pathetic example of apathy that only 39 surveys were submitted last year.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Agenda for School Board Meeting to be held April 5
Here is the agenda for tomorrow's meeting. I would like to be able to link you to the agenda on the school's web page, but the it is not posted there.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Budget Committee Meetings Are About to Begin
The first Budget Committee meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, March 31, at 9 a.m. Dates for future meetings are Tuesday, April 6 and Wednesday, April 21. All meetings are scheduled for 9 a.m. in the Board room.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Freedom of Information/Public's Right to Know
In perusing the School Board Policy, available on the school's website www.cmsbears.org, I found the form that a member of the public can use to request information from the Superintendent's Office. This is a link to that form. However, the Superintendent has also told me that he'd take a written request on any piece of paper and no one had to use a special form.
You can also find information about what is and is not public at this same website.
You can also find information about what is and is not public at this same website.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Podcasting School Board Meetings
I am now able to podcast the school board meetings! The new podcast site is http://cmsbears.podbean.com/. Today's special meeting was my first attempt, but hopefully I will be able to publish the audio from all future board meetings.
I know it is difficult to get to the board meetings sometimes, so now the technology is bringing the meetings to you. It is up to you, as a person concerned about Cloudcroft Schools, to listen.
I know it is difficult to get to the board meetings sometimes, so now the technology is bringing the meetings to you. It is up to you, as a person concerned about Cloudcroft Schools, to listen.
Summary of Special School Board Meeting of March 22, 2010
A complete podcast of the meeting can be found at http://cmsbears.podbean.com/ (podcasting is a new thing for me, so please leave me input if you have any problems with it!)
Being a "special meeting," business was conducted a bit differently. Board president Terry Butram read a statement, which can be found here. The statement/script of the meeting refers to the following documents:
Section II Open Meetings Act
V. Section 10-15-3 Invalid Actions; Standing
Local School Board Vacancies
To summarize the whole thing, the Board (through the script) acknowledged that they should not have discussed the board appointment/applicants in an executive session. They summarized what took place in the executive sessions and re-voted to appoint Ed Woten to the school board.
The Alamogordo Daily News covered the meeting in this article.
Being a "special meeting," business was conducted a bit differently. Board president Terry Butram read a statement, which can be found here. The statement/script of the meeting refers to the following documents:
Section II Open Meetings Act
V. Section 10-15-3 Invalid Actions; Standing
Local School Board Vacancies
To summarize the whole thing, the Board (through the script) acknowledged that they should not have discussed the board appointment/applicants in an executive session. They summarized what took place in the executive sessions and re-voted to appoint Ed Woten to the school board.
The Alamogordo Daily News covered the meeting in this article.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Special Board Meeting Scheduled for This Monday
This agenda was posted today for a Special Board Meeting to be held this Monday at noon. The board will be addressing open meetings act violations.
Proposed Policy Changes Now Available Online
In response to my request (see blog post), the school board and Mr. Hancock have agreed to make proposed policy change wording available on the school's website. The proposed policy changes can be found here or on the school's website under the "Board of Education" tab.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Overview of March School Board Meeting
It was an active School Board meeting last night, with around 20 citizens attending. Several folks signed up to make public comments.
1. One man spoke against the idea of a 4-day week. The Superintendent said that it was being considered as a last resort should they need it for budgetary concerns or should the citizens/teachers decide that they wanted to add staff with the savings from going to a 4-day week. Mr. Hancock suggested that people email him (thancock@cmsbears.org) with their thoughts about the 4-day week.
2. Another man asked about the school's priorities. He said that when the board was asked about its priorities that the students were never mentioned in the response. He referenced programs like "Character Counts" in the elementary school and asked what was being done along those lines in the Middle and High School. Mr. Hancock suggested that he get with the school's principals and they could fill him in on the various programs at the Middle and High School.
3. Dulaney Barrett handed out this letter pointing out that the executive sessions which were held to appoint both D'dre Brock and Ed Woten to the school board were in violation of the open meetings act. (see blog post "Open Meetings Act" posted on February 5th). Mr. Hancock suggested that the school board consult an attorney, which they voted to do. Mr. Hancock also commented that "this could cause the school to have to consider a 4-day week if they have to pay an attorney to fight it."
4. A woman asked whether any follow-up action had been taken with regards to a staff member using tobacco products on school grounds. Mr. Hancock informed her that there were specific procedures for filing complaints and that they needed to be specific with names and dates before any action could be taken. He said that there is a complaint form that needs to be filed with the person's supervisor. (Here is a copy of the complaint form.) Then if the matter is not resolved, they can come to the superintendent, and if the matter is still not resolved they can come to the school board. He stressed that they need to go to that person's immediate supervisor so that person has the details, otherwise the board and superintendent are not going to spend time trying to figure out who/what they are talking about. The woman said that they had gone through channels, that the channels didn't work, and that when they complained their children were harassed.
After the public comments, the Action items included:
1. Changing the next board meeting date to April 5th due to Spring break.
2. The "first reading" of Policy Advisory No. 69 (GBEB) which deals with "self conduct" and No. 70 (JFC) which deals with student withdrawals. I asked that copies of these proposed changes be provided for the public, but they were not. (see "Making Policy Advisory Changes available to the Public")
3. The board approved a waiver for a senior who just moved here from another state so did not have New Mexico history.
In the Information Items, Assistant Superintendent Amy Lane gave a summary of the various testing that is required by the Feds and the State. Apparently New Mexico's Public Education Department (PED) has received numerous complaints from schools that the unfunded testing mandates were becoming a financial burden with the ongoing budget cuts. The result of this is that some testing can be eliminated next year, saving the school approximately $3,200.
Mr. Hancock said that, if the Governor signs the budget bill, we would be looking at another 1.8% budget decrease, on top of the 2% decrease from the Fall. He said this would amount to about a $150,000 cut. He noted that we had already cut about $110,000 through "personnel." He also brought up the 4-day week and said the biggest issue with the public is babysitting on the fifth day.
It was also announced that the school had hired a nurse.
As acting school board president Jackie Cates was about to close the meeting (Terry Buttram was absent from the meeting), John Braziel, spokesman for the "Concerned Citizens" objected, saying that he was told that the board would read and respond to the questions that he had supplied earlier (see February 25th blog posting "More Questions for School Board from Concerned Citizens"). Board Secretary Doug Porch said they had decided before the meeting not to read the questions. I had some trouble following the timeline of who promised what to whom, but the bottom line sounded like the "Concerned Citizens" thought their questions were going to be addressed by the board and the board did not do that. Mr. Braziel also said that the issues had been taken through the chain of command and the result was the kids were being harassed and intimidated when the parents made a complaint.
1. One man spoke against the idea of a 4-day week. The Superintendent said that it was being considered as a last resort should they need it for budgetary concerns or should the citizens/teachers decide that they wanted to add staff with the savings from going to a 4-day week. Mr. Hancock suggested that people email him (thancock@cmsbears.org) with their thoughts about the 4-day week.
2. Another man asked about the school's priorities. He said that when the board was asked about its priorities that the students were never mentioned in the response. He referenced programs like "Character Counts" in the elementary school and asked what was being done along those lines in the Middle and High School. Mr. Hancock suggested that he get with the school's principals and they could fill him in on the various programs at the Middle and High School.
3. Dulaney Barrett handed out this letter pointing out that the executive sessions which were held to appoint both D'dre Brock and Ed Woten to the school board were in violation of the open meetings act. (see blog post "Open Meetings Act" posted on February 5th). Mr. Hancock suggested that the school board consult an attorney, which they voted to do. Mr. Hancock also commented that "this could cause the school to have to consider a 4-day week if they have to pay an attorney to fight it."
4. A woman asked whether any follow-up action had been taken with regards to a staff member using tobacco products on school grounds. Mr. Hancock informed her that there were specific procedures for filing complaints and that they needed to be specific with names and dates before any action could be taken. He said that there is a complaint form that needs to be filed with the person's supervisor. (Here is a copy of the complaint form.) Then if the matter is not resolved, they can come to the superintendent, and if the matter is still not resolved they can come to the school board. He stressed that they need to go to that person's immediate supervisor so that person has the details, otherwise the board and superintendent are not going to spend time trying to figure out who/what they are talking about. The woman said that they had gone through channels, that the channels didn't work, and that when they complained their children were harassed.
After the public comments, the Action items included:
1. Changing the next board meeting date to April 5th due to Spring break.
2. The "first reading" of Policy Advisory No. 69 (GBEB) which deals with "self conduct" and No. 70 (JFC) which deals with student withdrawals. I asked that copies of these proposed changes be provided for the public, but they were not. (see "Making Policy Advisory Changes available to the Public")
3. The board approved a waiver for a senior who just moved here from another state so did not have New Mexico history.
In the Information Items, Assistant Superintendent Amy Lane gave a summary of the various testing that is required by the Feds and the State. Apparently New Mexico's Public Education Department (PED) has received numerous complaints from schools that the unfunded testing mandates were becoming a financial burden with the ongoing budget cuts. The result of this is that some testing can be eliminated next year, saving the school approximately $3,200.
Mr. Hancock said that, if the Governor signs the budget bill, we would be looking at another 1.8% budget decrease, on top of the 2% decrease from the Fall. He said this would amount to about a $150,000 cut. He noted that we had already cut about $110,000 through "personnel." He also brought up the 4-day week and said the biggest issue with the public is babysitting on the fifth day.
It was also announced that the school had hired a nurse.
As acting school board president Jackie Cates was about to close the meeting (Terry Buttram was absent from the meeting), John Braziel, spokesman for the "Concerned Citizens" objected, saying that he was told that the board would read and respond to the questions that he had supplied earlier (see February 25th blog posting "More Questions for School Board from Concerned Citizens"). Board Secretary Doug Porch said they had decided before the meeting not to read the questions. I had some trouble following the timeline of who promised what to whom, but the bottom line sounded like the "Concerned Citizens" thought their questions were going to be addressed by the board and the board did not do that. Mr. Braziel also said that the issues had been taken through the chain of command and the result was the kids were being harassed and intimidated when the parents made a complaint.
Making Policy Advisory Changes available to the Public
At last night's school board meeting, there was a brief discussion as to the merits of making policy advisory changes available to the public. This discussion came about because I had asked Mr. Hancock to provide public copies of the changes to Advisory No. 69 and No. 70 that were referenced in the school board agenda. He said that it was a board decision, not his, as to whether or not this information would be made public. Since the information was not made available at last night's meeting, I have sent the following letter to all school board members, with a copy to Mr. Hancock.
Dear School Board Members,
Dear School Board Members,
At last night's board meeting, Mr. Hancock notified you that someone was interested in getting copies of the policy advisories that were being considered. That person was me, and I have forwarded to you a copy of that email below.
It seems to me that proposed policy changes are entirely appropriate for public dissemination. How else is the public supposed to know what the policy says and what changes are being proposed? Not making this information public is not exactly fostering open communications, nor is it allowing the public to offer any opinion as to the proposed changes.
I understand that most of these changes are suggested by legal staff at PED, and that most of these changes are considered to keep policy in step with current law. Since these changes are considered as action items on the board agenda, providing a marked-up copy to the public as well as the board is the best way to keep ALL interested parties informed.
Since I'm no fan of wasting paper and ink, it would be really cool if the school would post the mark-up on its web site!
Thank you for your consideration of this matter.
Margo Whitt
Begin forwarded message:
Date: March 8, 2010 3:21:44 PM MSTSubject: copies of policy advisories
Hi Tommy,
Would it be possible for ya'll to provide a couple of copies of the policy advisories that the board will be considering at tonight's meeting? I plan on attending and am interested in what is being considered.
Thank you
Margo
How to Access Board Policy online
At last night's school board meeting, Mr. Hancock explained how to access the School Board Policy via the school's website, www.cmsbears.org. Since there are a number of steps involved, I have summarized the process in this document.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Agenda for School Board Meeting to be held March 8
It was no small task getting this month's agenda. Only Lenora was in the admin office Friday afternoon and she didn't know where the copies were kept...but she was sure we could just get it off the school's web page. As of this writing, the only agenda I can find on the school's official web page is the one for the January meeting. So here is a photo of the agenda which is posted on the glass by the west entrance. There was nothing posted that gave any information as to what Policy Advisory 69 and 70 contain.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
More Questions for School Board from Concerned Citizens
Here is a list of questions submitted to the school board from the "concerned citizens" group. Though the letter references the February meeting, I think these questions were submitted for the March meeting, which will be Monday, March 8th.
Friday, February 19, 2010
New Admin Policy on Sex Offenders
This email was sent to the Principals and School Board on Tuesday, Feb. 16 by Superintendent Hancock.
Administrative Policy----Personnel-----Sex Offenders List
You are or should be aware of the statute that requires anyone that appears on the sex offenders list to report to you before coming onto campus. This law needs to be enforced without fail.
If a person who is on the sex offenders list is present on campus or at any school activity ask them to leave and get enough information that a no-trespass order can be issued from this office.
Beginning today-February 16, 2010- Have anyone that is going to be in a supervisory or instructional role over any student while at school or any school sponsored event fill out the application insert titled “Criminal History Affidavit”, return it to you, and get your sign-off before assuming that role. Send the signed affidavit to this office to be kept on file and keep a copy for your file.
Each Principal will determine procedures for implementing this policy on their campus.
Tommy Hancock, Superintendent
Cloudcroft Municipal Schools
PO Box 198
Cloudcroft, New Mexico 88317
575-601-4416
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Specific Questions Regarding Sex Offender Notification
After doing some research, today I addressed the following email to High School Principal Roman Renteria. I have cc'd Superintendent Hancock and the entire school board, as I would like to see all of them in the loop on this issue:
I have done some research with regards to sex offenders/registration and found the following:
I have done some research with regards to sex offenders/registration and found the following:
(8) disclose his status as a sex offender in writing to his employer, supervisor or other person similarly situated, when he begins employment, begins a vocation or volunteers his services, regardless of whether the sex offender receives payment or other compensation, pursuant to the provisions of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act;
Since it sounds like the cheerleading coach knew that he was a registered sex offender, some notification must have been given. My questions are:
1. How many times has he been at the school or with the cheerleading squad?
2. Did he volunteer his services?
3. Did he provide written notification of his status? If he did, who did he give it to and when?
There should be simple, quantifiable answers to these questions. I would appreciate knowing them.
****UPDATE**** I heard from Mr. Renteria this afternoon. He said that the man had only been at the school twice, once last year and once this year. He said the man had provided written notification of his status last year. He is still reviewing who got this notification and when. He also said that as soon as this issue came to his and Mr. Hancock's attention that the man was notified in writing that he is not to come onto school property.
****UPDATE**** I heard from Mr. Renteria this afternoon. He said that the man had only been at the school twice, once last year and once this year. He said the man had provided written notification of his status last year. He is still reviewing who got this notification and when. He also said that as soon as this issue came to his and Mr. Hancock's attention that the man was notified in writing that he is not to come onto school property.
Letter from Parent re: Registered Sex Offender on Campus
The following letter was sent by parent Jennifer Smith to Superintendent Tommy Hancock and High School Principal Roman Renteria. Every member of the school board was cc'd.
Hello,It has come to my attention that there was a known sex offender working with the cheerleaders.I dont know if he happens to have the same name or if he is the same felon listed on the NM state Web site or not.Either way, the issue has been brought to light that there are absolutely no background checks done on the people who interact with our children.As a university professor, I was told by our administration at NMSU-A, that everyone who steps foot on the Alamogordo school campuses are required to have a background check. I also have a student who is not allowed to substitute teach because of a 20 year old misdemeanor charge of possession of less than 1/4 ounce of marijuana.If the Alamo school are implementing these types of protective measures, why are we not protecting our children as diligently? Yes, they have had their share of personnel sexually assaulting minors. Cloudcroft has it's own history of the same.Are we going to wait until one of our kids get hurt before we do something? I personally do not want to sacrifice any of our mountain kids before the policy is put in place.I know many parents, including myself, will not put this to rest until a preventive policy is put in place. In Alamo, the folks who want to help on campus pay for their own background checks. I know I would.Thank you for your attention to this matter,
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Summary of School Board Meeting from Alamogordo Daily News
Here is a summary from the Alamogordo Daily News of Monday's school board meeting.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Four Day School Week Discussed
The idea of a four day school week was discussed at last night's school board meeting. A petition was provided to the school board signed by 61 teachers and school employees who are in favor of the idea. Most of the people attending last night's meeting appeared to be in favor of the idea. It was pointed out that moving to the four day week would not only help in this budget crisis, but perhaps free up funds to reinstate programs such as chemistry, computer classes, band for elementary students and a second language class for elementary students. It was pointed out that a four day week would extend the school day by approximately 50 minutes.
This research paper: Research Brief: A Review of the Evidence on the Four-Day School Week was provided to offer some background on the idea. It was also pointed out that 20 of New Mexico's 89 school districts are already on a four day week and a four day week does not seem to affect AYP one way or another.
This research paper: Research Brief: A Review of the Evidence on the Four-Day School Week was provided to offer some background on the idea. It was also pointed out that 20 of New Mexico's 89 school districts are already on a four day week and a four day week does not seem to affect AYP one way or another.
Why is a Registered Sex Offender helping to coach Cheerleaders?
Here is the email that I sent this morning to High School Principal Roman Renteria with a cc to Superintendent Hancock. I will gladly post their reply...
Hi Roman,
It has come to my attention that a registered sex offender is helping to coach the cheerleading squad. He was in the commons yesterday with the squad.
Has this been approved by you or someone else in the administration? Do you think it is appropriate? Have the cheerleader's parents been informed?
Since my kids are involved in extracurricular school activities, I would like to know the school's policy with regards to allowing known registered sex offenders to interact with the kids.
Thank you,
Margo
Hi Roman,
It has come to my attention that a registered sex offender is helping to coach the cheerleading squad. He was in the commons yesterday with the squad.
Has this been approved by you or someone else in the administration? Do you think it is appropriate? Have the cheerleader's parents been informed?
Since my kids are involved in extracurricular school activities, I would like to know the school's policy with regards to allowing known registered sex offenders to interact with the kids.
Thank you,
Margo
"Concerned Citizens" ask questions of School Board
This letter was given to the school board prior to last night's meeting. School board president Terry Butram addressed the concerns line-by-line at the end of the meeting. The answers were brief and quick, but I was able to capture the following:
1. What are issues other than test scores that are important to board?: AYP, policies, finances
2. Is it policy that tobacco use is prohibited for school employees?: It is policy for anybody on school campus per state law.
Has there been disciplinary action taken when a school employee has used tobacco?: Don't know.
3. Sexually inappropriate verbal statement made at staff meeting attended by Superintendent. Is this allowed, if not what was done about it?: Don't know about this, no one reported it to Superintendent.
4. Whose responsibility is it to establish procedures for student's and citizen's safety in getting to/from the school building?: The school district's, which includes staff, administration and citizens.
Is it a safety hazard to have children and citizens walk behind/between vehicles due to snow pileup?: Yes
What would be the appropriate time frame for snow removal by school personnel?: As soon as it can be done.
1. What are issues other than test scores that are important to board?: AYP, policies, finances
2. Is it policy that tobacco use is prohibited for school employees?: It is policy for anybody on school campus per state law.
Has there been disciplinary action taken when a school employee has used tobacco?: Don't know.
3. Sexually inappropriate verbal statement made at staff meeting attended by Superintendent. Is this allowed, if not what was done about it?: Don't know about this, no one reported it to Superintendent.
4. Whose responsibility is it to establish procedures for student's and citizen's safety in getting to/from the school building?: The school district's, which includes staff, administration and citizens.
Is it a safety hazard to have children and citizens walk behind/between vehicles due to snow pileup?: Yes
What would be the appropriate time frame for snow removal by school personnel?: As soon as it can be done.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Open Meetings Act
In researching the Open Meetings Act on the New Mexico Attorney General's website, I came across example 40, which reads:
"A local school board, pursuant to statutory authority, meets to appoint a person to fill a vacancy on the board. This paragraph does not authorize closing the meeting to consider that appointment because a board member is not an employee of the school district."
So, it would appear that the executive sessions to appoint both D'dre Brock and Ed Woten to the school board were in violation of the Open Meetings Act.
I have forwarded this information to the school board for their review.
School Board to discuss Four Day Week
The school board is scheduled to meet this Monday, February 8th at 6:00 pm. The agenda can be viewed here. (Unfortunately, as of this writing it can not be found on the school's web page.) Among other items, they will be discussing a four day school week.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Summary of School Board Meeting from Alamogordo Daily News
Full coverage of the January school board meeting can be found here.
Science Olympiad Regionals to be in Cloudcroft
Regionals for the Science Olympiad will be hosted by Cloudcroft High School this Saturday. Cloudcroft students will be competing in events like the Egg-O-Naut (where a raw egg is launched on a water rocket and is supposed to land unbroken), Mission Possible (think Rube Goldberg contraption), Mousetrap vehicles, etc. It is great fun to watch and volunteers are always appreciated! The event should start around 8 to 9 a.m. and last all day.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Superintendent's Contract Extended
Last night's school board meeting ended with the school board going into executive session to discuss the Superintendent's evaluation. They then called the superintendent into the executive session to discuss his evaluations with him. When they came out of the meeting, the board voted unanimously to extend the superintendent's contract another year, which now gives him 2 1/2 years remaining on the contract. There was no public discussion on the matter, which leads me to conclude that the discussion took place in the executive session. I have sent the following email to each school board member:
"I'm interested in knowing the content of the board's discussion with regards to extending the superintendent's contract for a year. From the agenda, I assumed that the contract discussion would be public, but it appears that the issue was decided in the executive session. Can you explain what went on and why the contract was extended when there was already 1 1/2 years left on the existing contract?"
I anxiously await any reply...
"I'm interested in knowing the content of the board's discussion with regards to extending the superintendent's contract for a year. From the agenda, I assumed that the contract discussion would be public, but it appears that the issue was decided in the executive session. Can you explain what went on and why the contract was extended when there was already 1 1/2 years left on the existing contract?"
I anxiously await any reply...
Saturday, January 9, 2010
School Board to discuss Superintendent at January 11, 2010 Meeting
The School Board is slated to discuss the Superintendent's evaluations and contract at this meeting. The full agenda can be seen here or, for the FIRST time, on the school's very own web page www.cmsbears.org.
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