By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
The Raton Board of Education met Monday November 18, 2024, for their regular monthly meeting at the Raton High School where they heard reports before tackling roof repairs and the purchase of a new activity vehicle.
Addison Medina spoke representing the Student Senate informing the board about the upcoming Winterfest in January.
Deb Sullivan a former teacher spoke about a community project that will involve students to help area citizens paint fencing around homes in town. While the board is supportive of the project all funding will need to be run through the Rotary Club. The question is how much the school can be involved with liabilities and funding issues.
Richard Cardenas spoke about the Paul Modrich Award and the Class of 1964 is asking if a plaque could be placed at the entrance of the new school building. Jason Phillips noted that if Modrich desired that they would do it but there had been several discussions with Modrich where he indicated that he didn’t want the extra attention.
The staff has requested a closed campus for lunch for the remainder of the school year as the high school has seen several tardies and are trying to curtail that problem.
Reports from principals included the current enrollment numbers at Longfellow which saw an increase of five pupils from 239 to 243. Raton Intermediate also noted a decrease in students from 252 in August to 243 at the end of October. The high school is currently at 350 students. Ted Kamp brought up the parent teacher conferences and asked how many conferences that took place. He was concerned about taking away teaching time away from 350 kids for only 50 plus who may have attended those conferences.
Kamp was also concerned about the day off for election day indicating it was another day away from teaching. There was also discussion about the remote learning and how well that went. RIS had packets sent home with students and most returned them as required and at the high school some of the teachers got creative such as shoveling snow or cooking for a neighbor.
The Board heard about an activity vehicle replacement request. The proposed activity vehicle replacement will be a 2025 Ford Expedition. The lone bid came from Phil Long Ford for $65,275.00 with a contract discount of $3263.75 for a total cost of $62,011.25. The board approved the request.
Board members heard about roof replacement on the Ag Shop that will be covered mostly by insurance. The J3systems bid is for $217,690.15 with NMGRT at $17,977.51 for a total cost of $235,667.66 which includes $5000 that the school district will provide. The work calls for a complete replacement of the roof covering.
2025 Special Capital Outlay requests include work at Tiger Stadium in the amount of $500,000, a new activity vehicle to replace another aging vehicle for $70,000 and work at the Bus Barn in the amount of $350,000. Work at the stadium will include press box maintenance and repairs, track repairs, install a sprinkler system, restroom upgrades and paving in front of the stadium. Work at the bus barn will include replacing the transportation office with an unused portable building, security cameras, lighting removal of an old single wide trailer. Updates to the fence, additional maintenance to include leveling and additional aggregate and to update the bus barn plumbing, heating and electrical work.
The Class of 2025 Seniors had requested the board to approve a different graduation location other than Tiger Gym at their October meeting. Their request was discussed and is being brought to the board for their formal consideration at this meeting. The Seniors are asking for an outdoor graduation at Tiger Stadium. The weather will be closely watched to determine location, the gym or stadium. The request also includes a 1:00 p.m. ceremony instead of the 7:00 p.m. time. Graduation this year is Friday May 16, 2025, at 1:00 p.m.
The board then heard about the purchase request for additional radios for the schools. The district identified some areas that needed additional communications therefore the need for additional portable radios. The funding will come from the COP grant that will expire in a year. The board approved the purchase of additional portable radios.
