By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
The Raton School Board met for their late regular meeting July 30, 2024, due to conflicts with their regular meeting day on the third Monday of the month and approved a grant agreement with the New Mexico Department of Transportation and AE Capital for Project Management services.
HVAC in gym to be done by the 12th of August Waiting on MOU from the state then go out for bids for an architect. It is a slow process 1 year to 18 months for design from the time the RFP is issued. Still working on contracts for the boilers before they can begin work. Once they begin work it will take 2 to 4 weeks.
The FY25 Raton School Budget is $26,299,345.76 which also includes bond funds.
Board members discussed creating a cell phone policy. Superintendent Kristi Medina noted the district does have a device policy but not a cell phone specific policy. Medina has requested help from NMSB to develop a policy. The district has a discipline policy that covers the use of a cell phone if a student is disruptive in class, or it is used for bullying. Justin Mattorano discussed after school issues that occur and that is when law enforcement is called into the school to help deal with the issue.
The grant agreement with NMDOT is for $31,187 to do work on the schools parking lots and entity streets. The scope of work is yet to be determined. Currently the school has three of these grants to be used. One suggestion is to do some work at the football field.
The board approved the purchase of janitorial supplies for the school in the amount of $10,189.06. These are for the fall season.
RPS has received a proposal from AE Capital to continue project management services for the next fiscal year with renewal options for future years.
As part of the RPS Facility Master Plan, Capital AE was involved and contributed to the engineering reports for the school district. AE Capital recommends continuing the Project Management Services for the district’s capital projects (Boilers, Fire Alarms) as well as the design phase of the new PreK – 12 campus. The cost of the proposal is $146,764.77 including GRT.
There are five projects listed for the upcoming year that AE Capital will oversee and provide project oversight:
- Fire Alarm Replacements (3 Schools) $416,000.00
- Boiler Upgrades (3 Schools) $571,000.00
- HVAC Upgrades (Raton HS Gym) $468,000.00
- New PK-12 School + Demolition of Existing Schools $134,000,000.00
- Demolition of Columbian Elementary. $850.000.00
Total $136,305,000
The board approved the contract with Edmentum, an accredited virtual high school program, to help students that are having issues with the regular classroom environment or is having discipline issues. There is a total of 15 slots open, the school currently has five students enrolled and will keep five slots open for needs that crop up during the year. The students in this program will count in the RPS 40- and 120-day student count for funding. The cost of the program per student is $2500.
Superintendent Kristi Medina noted this is a trial year and if this turns out to be a successful thing for the district it could be budgeted for a bigger enrollment and possibly bring back students to the district. Currently the Logan NM online program has several Raton students enrolled, and this could be a way to get them to return to the Raton Schools especially if they could be allowed to participate in sports as many home schooled students currently do.
Board members discussed policy advisories 238-245 and voted on each one separately.
Policy Advisory No. 238 – BBA-Board Powers and Responsibilities – Passed 3-2
Policy Advisory No. 239 – BE-School Board Meetings – Failed 4-1
Policy Advisory No. 240 – BEC-E-Executive Session/Open Meetings – Passed 4-1
Policy Advisory No. 241 – BEDA-Notification of Board Meetings – Failed 4-1
Policy Advisory No. 242 – BEDBA-Agenda Preparation and Dissemination – Passed 5-0
Policy Advisory No. 243 – BEDG-Minutes – Failed 4-1
Policy Advisory No. 244 – BEDH-Public Participation at Board Meetings – Failed 5-0
Policy Advisory No. 245 – CB-Superintendent – Passed 3-2
Changes to Policy 238 deal mostly with board member education and training which is currently onsite in Santa Fe. The board wants to see this training moved to online to reduce costs to the districts.
Policy 239 changes deal with the state requiring district to have live webcasts of board meetings and to record them and make them available online.
Policy 240 deals with open meetings and what is considered to be classified as a item that requires a closed executive session.
Policy 241 requires all meeting notices to be available 24 hours a day
Policy 242 now requires the meeting agenda to include a link to the live meeting broadcast.
Policy 243 this policy deals with how quickly the board minutes are to be posted on the district web site after being approved. Draft meeting minutes are to be public within 10 days of the meeting and the official minutes are to be posted within one week.
Policy 244 now requires a user interface be included in the live broadcast that allows the public to submit written or verbal comments. The superintendent may develop regulations or procedures related to the submission of comments.
Policy 245 Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Board shall not, during any time between the
date of a regular local election in which school board positions are on the ballot and
sixty (60) days after the convening of the newly elected board or until sixty (60) days
after a majority of a local school board has been appointed:
- Extend the Superintendent’s contract; or
- Terminate the Superintendent without cause.
