By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
The board began their meeting with the recognition of Darren Craig, Connie Shields and Lynette Simpson for the NMBSA Excellence in Student Achievement Awards. Connie’s husband and family Lee Shields, Megan Shields and Kerrigan Weese were present to accept for Connie.
Darren was recognized for his work at RIS while Connie was recognized for her many contributions at Longfellow. Lynette was recognized for the Dual Credit courses that she oversees with Jason noting that several Raton High students have cut as much as two years off their college careers saving the students thousands of dollars in college tuition costs after attending these courses.
The district has filled out federal and IDEA applications and are waiting to hear on approvals. Dea Craig noted that the district has 32 new special ed students in the district.
Board members heard from Myra Baird about the financial report and budget adjustments who noted things have gone well and nothing out of the ordinary can be reported and she will begin closeout for the end of the school year.
The school calendar was presented to the board for final approval after the board approved a four-day school calendar last week. Longfellow will begin at 7:30 a.m. and go to 3:30 p.m. with RIS starting at 7:20 a.m. to 3:20 p.m. and High School will run from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Students will return to school on August 5 with teachers back on August 3. RHS graduation will be May 28, 2027. Thanksgiving vacation will be from the November 23-26 with Christmas from December 21 through December 31 with school back in session on Monday January 4, 2027. There are three snow days built into the calendar. Baird noted that the transportation department is going to take the hit as less days means less miles travelled on bus routes. It will be very important to have students ride the bus on the 40th and 80th count days to help with funding.
Board member Dustin Walton was concerned about the early start time that Longfellow will begin the school day and wondered about students starting on August 5th. He felt that was early and was informed that the 5th and 6th are jump start days to give students a chance to find classrooms and lockers and meet teachers. The board approved the calendar on a 3-2 vote with members Dustin Walton and Ted Kamp voting no based on those concerns. Baird noted that they negotiate changes to the calendar but that would create an issue with meeting state deadlines.
Board members approved the FY 2026-2027 budget that will see an increase in the State Equivalent Guarantee or payment per student of $480,352 or a total of $12,537,925 for the 2026-2027 school year which calculates out to a per student value of $7,117.10. The state will cover a 1% salary increase this year and Baird noted that federal funds have not increased. The district will see a 9.95% increase in medical insurance premium costs. The district will now have to create an Infrastructure Capital Improvements Plan (ICIP) to request legislative capital outlay funding. Baird noted this is something new this year for schools and adds to the workload for funding requests.
The district will see salaries and benefits at $11,751,569 with other expenses coming in at $3,056,446. The total budget for the district is $14,808,014 for the 2026-2027 School year.
Board members had a brief discussion about Policy Advisory #273 Employee Assistance and #274 Public’s Right to Know.
With no other business the board adjourned and will meet again June 18, 2026.
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