Minutes April 18, 2023 Regular Meeting
Posted on 05/24/2023
LOS LUNAS SCHOOLS BOARD OF EDUCATION
REGULAR MEETING
APRIL 18, 2023
1. CALL TO ORDER
Ms. Garcia called the Los Lunas Schools Board of Education meeting to order at 6:04 pm.
Ms. Garcia welcomed those who were participating in the board meeting in person and those watching the board meeting via livestream on YouTube. Ms. Garcia added that, as a reminder, the link to the meeting was on the District’s webpage, under the Board of Education page. She added that the streaming would run through the end of the meeting, and, in the event there was a disruption in the audio portion, she would pause the meeting until it was reestablished.
Ms. Garcia announced that Board Member Bryan Smith and Attorney Roxie De Santiago would be participating via teleconference. She ensured that they could each and be heard before continuing.
LLS BOE Members Present:
Tina Garcia, President
P. David Vickers, Vice President
Bruce Bennett, Secretary
Bryan C. Smith, Member
Eloy Giron, Member
Administrators Present: Dr. Deborah Elder, Interim Superintendent
Brian Baca, Deputy Superintendent
Susan Chavez, Chief Student Services Officer
Andrew Saiz, Chief Personnel Officer
Sandy Traczyk, Chief Finance Officer
Alicia Himes, Interim Chief Academic Officer
Karla Dow, Dir. of Assessment Innovations & Accountability
William Hays, Dir. of Educational Technology
Wilson Holland, Dir. of Athletics
Dr. Katherine House, Dir. of Elementary Learning Innovations
Jacqueline Kelly-Romero, COVID Administrator
Dr. Natalie Saiz, Dir. of Support Services
Elena Trodden, Dir. of Language Learning Innovations
1. CALL TO ORDER (Continued)
Administrators Present: Carlos Castillo, Payroll Supervisor
Tiffany McMinn, Construction Supervisor
Clair Toledo, Principal, Century High School
Paul Carder, Principal, Los Lunas High School
Albert Aragon, Principal, Valencia High School
Joann Carter, Principal, Valencia Middle School
Melissa Contreras, Principal, Ann Parish Elementary
Deanna Herrera, Principal, Bosque Farms Elementary
Diedra Martinez, Principal, Desert View Elementary
Eric Tiger, Principal, Los Lunas Elementary
Amy Viramontes, Principal, Peralta Elementary
Catharine Campbell, Principal, Raymond Gabaldon Elementary
Venessa Tregembo, Principal, Sundance Elementary
Suzanne Chavez, Principal, Valencia Elementary
Regina Lucero, Asst. Principal, Los Lunas High School
Jennifer Gaerlan, Asst. Principal Los Lunas High School
Jennifer Otero, Asst. Principal, Valencia High School
Regina Sedillos, Asst. Principal, Los Lunas Middle School
Lisa Begay, Asst. Principal, Ann Parish Elementary
Adam Hulskamp, Asst. Principal, Bosque Farms Elementary
Teri Gough, Asst. Principal, Katherine Gallegos Elementary
Matt Pendrak, Asst. Principal, Los Lunas Elementary
Sheresa Jaramillo, Asst. Principal, Valencia Elementary
Others Present: Roxie DeSantiago, Esq. Walsh Gallegos
Felina Martinez, Valencia County News Bulletin
Mary Ann Chavez, NEA LL
Approximately twenty-five additional individuals were in attendance.
A range of 31 – 41 individuals watched via live streaming.
2. ANNOUNCEMENT OF MEETING
Ms. Garcia asked Dr. Elder to announce the meeting. Dr. Elder reported the meeting had been announced in accordance with the LLS Open Meetings Resolution, and, it was a legally constituted meeting of the Los Lunas Schools Board of Education.
3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Samuel Martin, Los Lunas High School
Samuel Martin from Los Lunas High School led the audience in the Pledge.
4. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Note: *Mr. Smith’s phone connection was disrupted multiple times. The meeting was paused momentarily until the connection was re-established. kw
Ms. Garcia asked Dr. Elder if there were any changes or deletions to the agenda. There being none, she called for a motion regarding the agenda.
Mr. Smith suggested changing the order of the agenda by swapping the order of Items # 10 and #12. He stated he felt they should approve the NMSBA Policy Manual prior to discussing how to maintain current policies within the adoption of the manual. It didn’t make sense to him to discuss how to maintain current policies until they had approved the NMSBA policy manual.
Mr. Smith moved to approve the agenda as presented, with the exception of a change to the order of the items: specifically, swapping the order of Items #10 and #12 on the agenda. Mr. Bennett seconded the motion.
Ms. Garcia stated that they had a motion by Mr. Smith and a second by Mr. Bennett to approve the agenda as amended.
Ms. Garcia asked if there was any discussion before she called for a vote.
Extensive discussion ensued regarding the order of the agenda, whether to change it or leave it a presented. Legal Counsel, Ms. De Santiago, interjected and stated that she had recommended the order of the agenda items. The reasons they were ordered that particular way was that it was deemed important and necessary before they even had a discussion about whether they would vote for the manual itself. It might be, that part of the discussion would result in a change in whether or not the manual was adopted and it would be most prudent to understand how the Board felt about any particular changes or recent adoptions, and if so, where those things occurred before they spoke about adopting the policy manual.
4. APPROVAL OF AGENDA (Continued)
Ms. De Santiago added that she just wanted to let the Board know that this particular order was something that has been considered to allow the Board to have a discussion in general before the adoption. The secondary reason for the order was that once they made a motion to adopt the NMSBA Policy Manual they would want to know whether they had things in place to maintain those policies that the Board had recently been adopted.
Mr. Giron led discussion regarding whether the spirit and intent of the Board was to have a footprint (the NMSBA Manual) in place first and then go back to when they needed to tweak it.
Further discussion ensued during which Ms. De Santiago explained that once the manual was approved, all other policies of the Board, including ones that had recently been approved, such as the diabetes policy, would be abdicated, canceled, eliminated. By setting parameters, that could include changing the date it would become effective, for example July 1, or by listing policies – say including policies that had been approved over the last six months, it would ensure those policies remained in place during the transition.
Mr. Giron stated that with the response given by the attorney, he would like to withdraw his second. He then apologized and said he had not made a second.
*Due to connectivity issues with Mr. Smith, Ms. De Santiago reviewed what she had said. She reiterated that she believed it would be more beneficial to discuss which policy/ies that they (the Board) wanted to keep so that they could include it/them in any motion that they would make for Item #12. She reiterated that the reason for that would be to keep those policies active and be incorporated into the manual. Again, once the manual was adopted, the current policies would be eliminated. As a follow-up to that, they would continue to work with Mr. Kennedy to implement and change what needed to be changed.
Ms. Garcia asked Mr. Smith if that if he wanted to change his motion. He said he did not. She then asked Mr. Bennett if he wanted to remove his second to the motion. Mr. Bennett stated that he did want to remove his second. Ms. Garcia asked called for a second.
4. APPROVAL OF AGENDA (Continued)
Confirmation was given that just because a motion/second was made, the board members did not have to vote for it.
Mr. Giron seconded the motion.
Ms. Garcia asked if there was any more discussion. There being none, she called for a vote regarding the motion to amend the agenda to swap Item #10 and #12 on the agenda.
There being none, Ms. Garcia called for a vote with the following results: Eloy Giron – yes; Bruce Bennett – no; P. David Vickers – no; Bryan C. Smith – yes; and Tina Garcia – no. The motion to approve the agenda with amendments to swap Items #10 and #12 was not approved: 3/2. Ms. Garcia stated that the agenda order would remain the same.
Ms. Garcia asked if there were any other motions or changes to the agenda by the Board.
Mr. Giron stated that he understood the issue now, and it was a lot more clear. He would like to change Items #12 and #11, just flip those over. He understood the concern that Mr. Smith had. He added that was in the form of a motion. They’d have a footprint and then they’d be able to discuss and consider the approval of a third reading. Mr. Smith seconded the motion.
Ms. De Santiago reminded the board members that assuming that the policy manual was adopted, the current policies would be eliminated, and their next discussion was to possibly change a policy that had just been eliminated.
Ms. Garcia asked Mr. Giron if that was how he wanted to proceed. Ms. Giron said yes, that was what they spoke about the last few meetings. They had discussed policy - they would adopt this and then they would go back and address the policies that needed to be changed in our district like that.
Ms. Garcia was also given confirmation that Mr. Smith wanted to keep his second.
4. APPROVAL OF AGENDA (Continued)
There being no further discussion, Ms. Garcia called for a vote with the following results: Eloy Giron – yes; Bruce Bennett – yes; P. David Vickers – yes; Bryan C. Smith – yes; and Tina Garcia – yes. The motion to approve the agenda as amended to switch Items #11 and # 12 passed: 5/0.
Ms. Garcia announced that the agenda was approved with the amendment.
5. RECOGNITIONS
A. Above and Beyond Honoree: Samuel Martin, Los Lunas High School
Los Lunas High School Principal, Paul Carder, presented his school’s Above and Beyond Award to Samuel Martin.
B. State Wrestling Champion: Miguel Andrade, Los Lunas High School
Wilson Holland, District Athletic Director, stated that it was with great pleasure he recognized LLHS Wrestler Miguel, the 2023 5A State Wrestling Champion. He said that Miguel was an incredible young man, and was the best wrestler he’d ever seen in Valencia County, and the entire southwest. He was the grandson of the late outstanding coach, Frank Valencia, and was coached by long-time coach, Steve Chavez
Mr. Holland gave a PowerPoint Presentation during which he expanded on the accomplishments of Miguel that included:
Current Accomplishments
• 2023 5A State Champion 215 39-0 37 PINS
• All State
• All Star Team
• New Mexico Wrestler of the Year in all Categories highest accomplished for any wrestler
• New Mexico Wrestling Dream Team
5. RECOGNITIONS (Cont.)
B. State Wrestling Champion: Miguel Andrade, Los Lunas High School (Cont.)
Career Accomplishments
• 2018 - 2019 35-7 District 2nd State 3rd
• 2019 - 2020 41-6 District 1st State 2nd
• 2020 - 2021 18-1 District 1st State 2nd
• 2021 - 2022 23-3 District 1st State 2nd
• 2022 – 2023 39-0 District 1st State 1st
Career Record 145 – 17
• Los Lunas High School Record - 145 Wins
Additional Accomplishments
• 2021 State Football Champion
• Cumulative GPA 3.5during his high school journey
• Five-year letterman in wrestling
Mr. Holland commended Miguel and his parents. He told him that it had been a great pleasure to watch him over the years. He added that Miguel would be greatly missed.
The board members commended Mr. Andrade on his accomplishments.
6. PUBLIC COMMENT (In Accordance with Board Policy 2.8.8 Public Address to the Board)
Ms. Garcia announced that there were three individuals who had requested to address the Board: Ms. Rowena Tachias, Ms. Heather Rindels, and Mr. Henry Lopez.
NOTE: Mr. Henry Lopez turned in his comments to be included as part of the official record. Ms. Rindels later submitted an email with an attachment containing a copy of the statement she had made, and asked that they both be included in the official record. Their statements have been added to the official minute book. - ksw
Ms. Rowena Tachias
Ms. Rowena Tachias from Bosque Farms asked to address the Board on two separate issues: Item #11 and then Items #10 and #12 combined. After a brief discussion, Ms. Garcia told Ms. Tachias that she would be able to address each of the items separately for five minutes each.
6. PUBLIC COMMENT (In Accordance with Board Policy 2.8.8 Public Address to the Board) (Continued)
Ms. Rowena Tachias (Cont.)
Ms. Tachias discussed the NMSBA Policy Manual, and questioned when it would be available to the public, the status of handbooks that were based on the current policies, how issues/problems would be handled while the NMSBA Policy Manual was being tailored for LLS, which of those would take precedence, should those policies be reviewed first, as handbooks would have to be approved prior to the school year, and when would it go into effect.
Ms. Tachias stated that stakeholders should have the right to see the policy in its entirety, to be transparent, instead of in pieces, so they could track the changes and hold them accountable. She noted that the attorney had said at a previous meeting that there were many current LLSD policies that were not in compliance with state law. She said that some clarification would be greatly appreciated. Ms. Tachias added that personally, if she was going to hold someone accountable to the policy, as they probably knew from her e-mails, she wanted to be able to reference the correct policy verbatim.
Ms. Tachias said the second item she wanted to address was Item #11 Policy 5.21. Ms. Tachias stated because she was unable to read the policy manual they were considering adopting, she would refer to the current policy handbook. Ms. Tachias quoted the board members obligations to put the children and their needs first, as well as, how decisions must and must not be based on. She asked the Board to consider the stakeholders as to whether the policy was a priority. Why was it more important than becoming compliant? Curriculums? Finding a superintendent? Addressing learning loss over the last three years? Where were the proposed changes posted on the district web site for the public to view and comment on? She stated there was a suggestion that Dr. Elder had made that the public would be able to see them before you voted on them, changed them, etc. What was the intention of this policy change? Was it for the future, going forward? How many employees did the change affect today? Or was it going to be used to pay an individual retroactively? How did it affect the student in the classroom? How did this policy get fast tracked as she’d watched public comment policy be continually stonewalled for more than six months in that in actuality affected all stakeholders?
6. PUBLIC COMMENT (In Accordance with Board Policy 2.8.8 Public Address to the Board) (Continued)
Ms. Rowena Tachias (Cont.)
Ms. Tachias discussed the length of legislative sessions, then added that there were also many conferences, meetings and trainings that the legislators were required to attend. Since the money had already been allotted in the budget, why not divide those paychecks among the four or five people required to pick up the slack when the individual was not in his office? This legislative appointment was accepted knowing full well that it was a per diem only job and there was no current LLSD policy providing leave with pay. She said it was interesting to note that from the outside it looked like a senior level administrator had been sitting at the state legislature, happened to sit on the education committee, and as luck would have it, their former SI was the current Secretary of Education. Ms. Tachias stated that it had the appearance of impropriety.
Ms. Garcia interjected and told Ms. Tachias she had reached her five-minute time limit.
Ms. Heather Rindels
Ms. Heather Rindels said she was there as a concerned parent, community member, and district employee, and wanted to address board members regarding the proposed social studies curriculum.
Ms. Rindels stated that she was very familiar with the state standards and was adamantly opposed to the new standards being introduced. She discussed the introduction on the PED web site and pointed out the references that she felt were true and false. Secondly, they had been told time and time again, that the district was not teaching critical race theory, CRT, but that they were teaching the standards. Unfortunately, that meant that the District was teaching CRT because it was embedded in the standards, which also meant that the State was promoting the teaching of CRT. It was also being taught under the guise of diversity, equity, and inclusion, social emotional learning and culturally and linguistically responsive learning, which were competencies taken from New America. They could call it whatever they wanted, but it was still CRT - looking at everything through the lens of racism, any disparity was considered racist and every system that had been put in place had been built on the foundation of racism, and even if a system tried to implement an anti-racist policy, it did so to uphold its racist ideals.
6. PUBLIC COMMENT (In Accordance with Board Policy 2.8.8 Public Address to the Board) (Continued)
Ms. Heather Rindels (Cont.)
She said that it promoted victimhood and promoted division and hatred. It was an academic theory that had become a political activist movement and was being taught as a historical fact. Ms. Rindels gave examples she said were taken directly from the standards, spoke about the book Stamped From The Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America that was sent to our District by the PED, and handed out to our social studies teacher to help guide them in teaching the standards. She said she’d like to know if anyone read the book before distributing it to teachers, and then referenced other books from the same author Ibram X Kendi. She added while she supported teaching the good, the bad, and ugly of our history, but she didn’t support spinning history to support a destructive ideology.
Ms. Rindels stated that they needed to be aware it was not just isolated to social studies, then referenced books published by READ WOKE BOOKS in at least one of our libraries, the required reading of the book in some classes called THE HATE YOU GIVE, inclusive of action support prompts.
Ms. Rindels stated that since the District was claiming -
Ms. Garcia interjected and thanked Ms. Rindels.
Ms. Rindels stated that she had one statement left.
Ms. Garcia responded that she was at five minutes. She was giving everybody five minutes and that’s where they were at.
6. PUBLIC COMMENT (In Accordance with Board Policy 2.8.8 Public Address to the Board) (Continued)
Mr. Henry Lopez
Mr. Lopez stated that he had read the agenda, which said they would have an introduction to the NM Social Studies Standards by our superintendent. The Standards were being mandated to be taught in our schools and were led by the NM Public Education Department in Santa Fe. He said he was concerned with the new pillar of Ethnic, Cultural and Identify Studies, also known to him as Equity or CRT.
There was nothing at this point that could be done to change that. It was now a statewide policy. It would require new social studies books to be purchased by our schools and gratefully, the public was invited by this administration to review two of the proposed social studies curriculum books by Savaas and McGraw Hill. He attended and had reviewed the two proposed books at Los Lunas High School, and the two hours that he’d spent there was not enough time to fully review all the curriculum for all the grade levels. Thankfully, the administration allowed continued access to the school's web site for further review and for a few weeks, he took advantage of the extended time.
Mr. Lopez stated that he quickly found while researching the proposed curriculum instances of anti-white overtones and divisive examples of victim blaming, as well as, one-sided political views of current events and LGBTQ politically-driven agendas throughout all the junior high and the high school material. He said they would hear an intro to these NM Social Studies Standards that would possibly be using one of these books by Savaas or McGraw Hill. They would also be told that within these books there was no CRT that would be taught. He was there to tell them from what he read, that many overtones were masked within those pages that were aimed at teaching that black and brown children were victims and white children were inherently racist.
Mr. Lopez stated that, as a parent, he was skeptical. For example, at a conference this past year supported by the NM PED titled Building An Equity Bridge, Superintendent Ken Moore was caught on tape stating that gorilla warfare tactics would be used to introduce equity and parents will be none the wiser. He said they could look it up on YouTube. Superintendent Moore had since been suspended indefinitely. But what he was asking them that before a decision was made to accept one of those books, he implored them all to review them first.
6. PUBLIC COMMENT (In Accordance with Board Policy 2.8.8 Public Address to the Board) (Continued)
Mr. Henry Lopez (Cont.)
Mr. Lopez state that if it was too much to read, a simple key word search would get the information that he was talking about. He added that in closing, in 2010, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi famously stated the quote “We must pass the bill so they could find out what was in it.” Mr. Lopez said - Let us not be fools and make that mistake again and read these books before accepting them.
Ms. Garcia told Mr. Lopez he had one more minute, but he said he was good.
Ms. Garcia thanked all the individuals for their comments.
7. APPROVAL OF CONSENT ITEMS
Mr. Vickers moved, and Mr. Bennett, seconded, to approve the consent agenda with the following exceptions: Item # 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17. Ms. Garcia said they had a motion from Mr. Vickers and a second from Mr. Bennett to approved all of the items listed on the consent sheet with the following exceptions:
Ms. Garcia announced that they had a motion from Mr. Vickers, and a second from Mr. Bennett, to approve all of the items on the consent agenda with the exceptions of the following: #10. DISCUSSION OF PROCEDURES FOR MAINTAINING NEWLY ADOPTED POLICIES WITHIN THE ADOPTION OF THE NMSBA POLICIES AS A WHOLE; #11. PRESENTATION AND CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF POLICY- Third Reading: 5.21 LEAVES AND ABSENCES – Requested by Board Vice President P. David Vickers; #12. DISCUSSION AND CONSIDERATON TO APPROVE NMSBA POLICY MANUAL; #13. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING TOWN HALL MEETING (S) PROTOCOLS AND DATE (S): Requested by Board Member Bryan C. Smith; #14. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING PROCESS OF SELECTION OF PERMANENT SUPERINTENDENT POSITION: Requested by Board President Tina Garcia; #15. DISCUSSION REGARDING BOARD PRIORITIES AND BOARD GOALS: Requested by Board Member Eloy G. Giron;
7. APPROVAL OF CONSENT ITEMS (Continued)
#16. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING ADDING BOARD MEETING DATES TO CALENDAR FOR THE 2022-23 FY (May 2, 2023 and June 6, 2023) TO ADDRESS BOARD POLICIES AND OTHER ITEMS AS NEEDED; and # 17. APPROVAL OF LLS BOARD OF EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS (Recipients will be announced at the Senior Awards Ceremonies.)
Ms. Garcia stated that, for the benefit of the audience, all agenda items had been reviewed by the board members individually. Consent items were the action items on the agenda presented by the Superintendent and staff for approval. If no discussion had been asked regarding those items by any of the board members, those items could be submitted for approval by one motion or vote.
There being no discussion, Ms. Garcia called for a vote regarding the consent items with the following results: Eloy Giron – yes; Bruce Bennett – yes; P. David Vickers – yes; Bryan C. Smith - yes; and Tina Garcia – yes. Motion regarding the consent items passed: 5/0.
8. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A. March 21, 2023 Regular Board Meeting (Approved by Consent)
B. March 28, 2023 Special Board Meeting (Approved by Consent)
9. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT
A. Student Representative Report: Mikayla Nandin, Los Lunas High School
Mikayla thanked the Board and Dr. Elder for the opportunity to speak to about Los Lunas High School. She said there were many activities and events taking place at Los Lunas High School. Within the athletics department, they had spring sports such as Baseball, Softball, and Track & Field currently holding games and meets with high success rates. The spring time was also an important period for many Career Tech Student Organizations (CTSO’s).
9. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT (Continued)
A. Student Representative Report: Mikayla Nandin, Los Lunas High School (Cont.)
Both TSA and HOSA had their state competitions during this time as they compete in certain skills and events to prepare them for future career-oriented endeavors. Student Council and National Honor Society were working to prepare for the end of year schedule, including community service, induction of new members, and electing new executive officers.
Many clubs at this time were also preparing to award their qualifying members with letters, tassels, and stoles ahead of graduation and the end of the school year. Many more senior events were also taking place. Most recently, the seniors hiked up Los Lunas Hill for our “Paint the Hill” event, where they rearranged and repainted the white 22 number into a 23.
Just before that, the Senior Class Council also assisted with handing out caps & gowns and graduation announcement orders to the senior class. The past weekend, they’d held their Prom at the Albuquerque Convention Center. The theme was Enchanted Forest, and it was a great success! Their next event would be the Senior Sunset. After that, they would be moving into their final few weeks in high school, where seniors would have finals, countdown, checkout, honors/robing ceremony, and graduation to conclude the seniors’ high school journey.
Thank you very much for allowing me to tell you about Los Lunas High School, the home of the Tigers!
Discussion ensued during which the board members discussed with Mikayla her accomplishment of being accepted into the UNM School of Medicine, where she wanted to specialize in infectious disease. They commended her on her report and wished her the best.
Mr. Smith added that he wanted to comment on the Region IV Meeting held at Los Lunas High School. He knew Mr. Carder would be speaking very soon, but wanted him to let all of the students and all of his staff members that represented the individual organizations that were present there how great it was. He said he’d been to seven of these regional meetings and not once had he heard the amount of praise for the students that were there - the welcoming atmosphere they provided and that it made them very proud.
9. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT (Continued)
B. School Report: Paul Carder, Los Lunas High School
Dr. Elder invited Los Lunas High School Principal, Mr. Paul Carder, to come to the podium.
He then introduced the assistant principals who were in attendance: Jennifer Gaerlan and Regina Lucero. He noted that Dr. Robert Sims had been unable to attend.
Mr. Carder and his administrative team then gave a PowerPoint Presentation during which they gave a comprehensive overview of the following areas:
Changes in their practice to support their 90-Day Plan
• LHS 90 Day Plan Focus Areas: Proper Learning Target, Grade Aligned Tier I Instruction, Student Engagement
a. Bi-Monthly walkthroughs for all teachers with in-person feedback
b. Use of District Pacing Guides to ensure grade level aligned Tier I instruction
c. Use of the Rigor Framework while planning lessons, and for reflection after the lesson
d. Use of the Winning Recipe for our Learning Targets to improve student interaction
Academic Improvement
• District Instructional Innovations
• Communities of Practice
• Implementation of Prep-Time Collaboration to Support Communities of Practice Through Increased Professional Development
• Extended Learning Time Programs
Parent/Family Communication
• Open House
• Parent Teacher Conferences
• Use of Remind and Social Media To Tell Our Story
• Parent/Student Class Meetings, Registration Nights, Orientations
• Student Mentoring Program
9. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT (Continued)
B. School Report: Paul Carder, Los Lunas High School (Cont.)
Discussion ensued regarding various aspects of the presentation, their vision, and multiple community programs. The board members individually commended Mr. Carder and the LLHS staff for their hard work. Further discussion ensured during which the board members individually thanked them for hosting the Region IV Meeting held at LLHS, and reiterated the overwhelming number of positive comments they’d had on the welcoming atmosphere, the students, and the incredible event as a whole.
C. Introduction to New Mexico Social Studies Standards
Dr. Elder asked Interim Chief Academic Officer, Alicia Himes, and Directors of the Learning Innovations Team to provide information regarding the New Mexico Social Studies Standards.
Ms. Himes, Dr. House, Ms. Montano, and Ms. Trodden gave a PowerPoint Presentation during which the discussed and expanded on the following areas:
Purpose
“The primary purpose of social studies is to help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world.” - National Council for the Social Studies
LLS Instructional Innovations
• Every Lunas student will graduate equipped with the knowledge, skills, and attributes to pursue a path of their choice
• Technology and SEL
• Instructional Shifts Blooms Taxonomy
• Create
• Evaluate
• Analyze
• Apply
• Understand
• Remember
9. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT (Continued)
C. Introduction to New Mexico Social Studies Standards (Cont.)
• Anchor Standards with examples given
Social Studies Materials Adoption (K-12)
• Los Lunas Schools Courses
• K-3 Broad Overview
• 4th, 7th, 9th New Mexico History
• 6th, 8th, 10th World History
• 5th, 11th U.S. History
• 12th Economics & Government
Timeline for Social Studies Curriculum
• October 2022
• Process and Timeline development
• November 2022
• Rubric development, development of committee application, research and vetting of materials
• January 2023
• Committee applications, vendor research presentation preparation for materials training on using the rubric
• February 2023
• Community evening, community web links for Reviews, teacher reviews
• March 2023
• Committee reviews data and makes recommendation to superintendent
Professional Development
• 7-12 Social Studies Teachers
• Deep dive into the new state standards during All Learner Days 2022-23
• 2023-24 Continue Professional Development with standards and new adopted resources
• K-6 Teachers
• April All Learner Day started the deep dive into the new state standards
• 2023-24 Continue professional development with standards and new adopted resources
Information
• K-12 social studies standards: http://bit.ly/4117Dcr
• NM Parent and Family Guides for Social Studies: http://bit.ly/3Kc6Qyr
9. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT (Continued)
C. Introduction to New Mexico Social Studies Standards (Cont.)
Mr. Vickers asked whether the District had to use the materials that were vetted by the State. Dr. Elder stated the way it read was they were required to use 50 percent of their budget on the vetted materials. One of the things that they’d be able to see when they did their final presentation in May was that they were going to have to spend a good chunk of that money on New Mexico history because they found that many of their vendors didn't actually give them New Mexico history. They kind of gave them a broad state history and so they were going to have to use quite a bit of funding for New Mexico history.
Mr. Giron asked how many were in attendance at the community / parent meaning that she had in February. Dr. Elder reported that they had 11 in attendance and four of them left them with feedback sheets and then they had three community members leave feedback online.It was confirmed that the presentation would be posted on the web page. Dr. Elder commended the Learning Innovations Team on their presentation.
D. Other Comments
Dr. Elder reported on the dates of the upcoming parent forums that were part of her transition plan:
• Monday, April 24th Teacher Resource Center 6:00 pm
• Thursday, May 11th Valencia Middle School 6:00 pm
• Monday, May 22nd Zoom link will be posted on web page 6:00 pm
Mr. Smith said he wanted thanked Dr. Elder for placing all of the information on the Web site and for involving so many people. He thought it was terrific that they were getting input from our community, staff, and everybody else on this tough subject. He told her that her staff had done good work.
10. DISCUSSION OF PROCEDURES FOR MAINTAINING NEWLY ADOPTED POLICIES WITHIN THE ADOPTION OF THE NMSBA POLICIES AS A WHOLE
Ms. Garcia stated that Mr. Kennedy was out-of-state and unable to attend the meeting. At the last meeting, the Board had decided to have the policy committee a committee of the whole. The item was placed on the agenda because there were no written procedures in place how to maintain newly adopted polices and or standing policies that the Board felt needed to be incorporated into the new policy handbook right away.
Extensive discussion ensued regarding multiple aspects related to the adoption of policy handbook including: how whether there were specific policies they felt were needed to be preserved and whether they should use a timeline, such as the last six months, to preserve policies or name specific policies before approving the handbook. Mr. Bennett said he was concerned about several policies but felt that they needed to address the Diabetes, social media policy, and bilingual certification policy without delay. Mr. Smith discussed the current policies being out of compliance, and whether it was better to approve the new policy handbook and incorporate policies as needed. The attorney reiterated that if approved, the NMSBA policies would replace all of the old policies.
Further discussion ensued regarding whether they could request to incorporate specific current polices into the NMSBA Handbook, and have Mr. Kennedy determine how /where to place them.
Ms. Garcia announced that the item was for discussion only; no action was needed or warranted at that time.
* The order of Items #11 and #12 was switched under Item #5 APPROVAL OF AGENDA - ksw
*12. DISCUSSION AND CONSIDERATON TO APPROVE NMSBA POLICY MANUAL
Ms. Garcia stated that they had asked Mr. Kennedy to be there that evening but he was unable to do so. Questions for him regarding specifics would need to wait until he could join them. The item was for the consideration to adopt and approve the NMSBA Policy Manual as a whole and/or with stipulations as they had talked about; specifically, to preserve policies the board members felt were critical to keep.
* The order of Items #11 and #12 was switched under Item #5 APPROVAL OF AGENDA - ksw
*12. DISCUSSION AND CONSIDERATON TO APPROVE NMSBA POLICY MANUAL
Extensive discussion ensued regard getting input from the public, the administration and staff, timeframes, policies they felt needed to be preserved, how the policies would affect student and staff handbooks, compliance issues, tailoring the policy handbook for Los Lunas Schools, whether it was better to approve in its entirety, when it would in effect such as July 1st to ensure all the policies they wanted to preserve were added, as once the new policy handbook was adopted, they would replace the current policies.
Discussion ensued regarding the diabetes and bilingual seal policies, and it was decided to take a short break to get the policy numbers of those policies.
BREAK
Ms. Garcia called for a break at 8:12 pm.
REGULAR MEETING
Ms. Garcia called the meeting back into Regular Session at 8:27 pm.
Discussion ensued regarding the timeframe for the board policies to go into affect.
Mr. Smith moved and Mr. Giron seconded to approve the NMSBA Policy handbook to include Policy #6.431 and #7.44. There being no further discussion, Ms. Garcia called for a vote regarding Item with the following results: Eloy Giron – yes; Bruce Bennett – yes; P. David Vickers – yes; Bryan C. Smith – yes; and Tina Garcia – yes. Motion to approve Item # 12. with the amendments listed passed: 5/0.
* The order of Items #11 and #12 was switched under Item #5 APPROVAL OF AGENDA - ksw
*11. PRESENTATION AND CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF POLICY- Third Reading: 5.21 LEAVES AND ABSENCES – Requested by Board Vice President P. David Vickers
Mr. Vickers moved and Mr. Giron seconded to table Item #13. CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF POLICY- Third Reading: 5.21 LEAVES AND ABSENCES
Mr. Vickers stated that it hadn’t been vetted as to legality and ramifications and felt it was the prudent to do allow Mr. Kennedy to review it and see how it would be incorporated.
Mr. Smith stated that he agreed with tabling it but for different reasons – just because it was legal didn’t make it right. He felt they needed a work session to discuss the policy not just about the legislative leave, but also because it didn’t allow for leave donation, nor did it address leave timeframes for first responders and/or military personnel.
There being no further discussion, Ms. Garcia called for a vote regarding Item #13 with the following results: Eloy Giron – yes; Bruce Bennett – yes; P. David Vickers – yes; Bryan C. Smith – yes; and Tina Garcia – yes. Motion to table Item # 13. passed: 5/0.
13. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING TOWN HALL MEETING (S) PROTOCOLS AND DATE (S): Requested by Board Member Bryan C. Smith
Ms. Garcia stated that Dr. Elder had provided the board members with a draft of information regarding organizing and running town hall meetings.
Extensive discussion ensued regarding the structure of running a town hall, including announcements, the requirement of an agenda, protocols, and if because if public comment had changed with the adoption of the NMSBA Handbook, if the need still existed.
Ms. Garcia called for a motion.
13. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING TOWN HALL MEETING (S) PROTOCOLS AND DATE (S): Requested by Board Member Bryan C. Smith
Mr. Smith moved, and Mr. Bennett seconded, to table Item #13 until they fully understand public comment in the new policy handbook. There being no further discussion, Ms. Garcia called for a vote regarding Item #13 with the following results: Eloy Giron – yes; Bruce Bennett – yes; P. David Vickers – yes; Bryan C. Smith – yes; and Tina Garcia – yes. Motion to table Item # 13. passed: 5/0.
14. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING PROCESS OF SELECTION OF PERMANENT SUPERINTENDENT POSITION: Requested by Board President Tina Garcia
Ms. Garcia stated that she had added the item to the agenda so they could discuss the best timeline to advertise for the permanent superintendent – whether now, mid or end of year.
Extensive discussion ensued regarding the prime time was to look for a superintendent, during which Mr. Smith felt it was to start the process as soon as possible to stabilize the District.
Mr. Bennett, Mr. Vickers and Mr. Giron expressed they didn’t feel there was a big hurry to start the process. They noted her 100-day plan and would like to see how she implemented that. The suggestion was made to discuss it at the board/superintendent retreat.
Mr. Smith stated they’d had four superintendents in the last four years and that wasn’t right. He added that that he also didn’t think it was fair to Dr. Elder – if she was selected she could move forward, or, if not selected, would have time to apply for other open superintendent positions if she chose to do. Ms. Garcia stated that she felt they could start the process and see how it went. They were under no obligation to hire someone at that time.
Further discussion ensued regarding the process that would be followed, whether they could offer a contract, open the search and when, as well as, utilizing the NMSBA superintendent search to help with the process, or using our personnel department for that purpose.
14. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING PROCESS OF SELECTION OF PERMANENT SUPERINTENDENT POSITION: Requested by Board President Tina Garcia
(Continued)
Ms. De Santiago discussed the timeline, ability to get qualified candidates if they started the process now, as opposed to perhaps getting other districts’ leftover candidates if they waited until later in the year. She said there weren’t mandates how they did the process then discussed options for searches, and added that her firm also helped with superintendent searches if the board members wanted to go that way.
Ms. Garcia called for a motion.
Mr. Smith moved, and Mr. Giron seconded, to direct the Board President to contact the NMSBA Search Committee to open up the position of Los Lunas Schools within the next two weeks and find out their services to do so.
Extensive discussion ensued regarding starting the process at this time. Mr. Bennett stated he agreed about waiting as Mr. Giron discussed. No disrespect, but he’d like to see the fruits of her labor. Mr. Giron stated that they had a retreat coming up in a few weeks and suggested they spend some time discussing it at that time. Mr. Vickers stated that he agreed and also didn’t see the urgency and felt it was more prudent to wait.
Mr. Giron withdrew his second because he didn’t see a clear path and felt they needed to discuss it further.
When asked, Mr. Smith stated he didn’t want to withdraw his motion.
Mr. Vickers stated he would second the motion to move it forward.
Mr. Smith stated it was incredibly unfair for an interim to have to wait that long. They needed to open it and / or to offer her a contract. He reiterated he thought it was just wrong to make her wait.
14. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING PROCESS OF SELECTION OF PERMANENT SUPERINTENDENT POSITION: Requested by Board President Tina Garcia
(Continued)
There being no further discussion, Ms. Garcia called for a vote regarding Item # with the following results: Eloy Giron – no; Bruce Bennett – no; P. David Vickers – no; Bryan C. Smith – yes; and Tina Garcia – yes. Motion to open the superintendent position failed: 3/2.
Mr. Giron moved, and Mr. Bennett moved to spend the first four hours of their retreat to address the superintendent search.
Mr. Smith stated that again that doing so would mean they wouldn’t be taking action at least until the middle of the summer. Ms. Garcia confirmed with Dr. Elder there was enough flexibility in their schedule for that discussion.
There being no further discussion, Ms. Garcia called for a vote regarding Item #14 with the following results: Eloy Giron – yes; Bruce Bennett – yes; P. David Vickers – yes; Bryan C. Smith – no; and Tina Garcia – yes Motion to spend first four hours at board retreat passed: 4/1.
15. DISCUSSION REGARDING BOARD PRIORITIES AND BOARD GOALS: Requested by Board Member Eloy G. Giron
Ms. Garcia stated that she knew Dr. Elder had a schedule for their retreat. From one of the sessions they had talked about the importance of setting board goals, and organizational goals for the District and for the Superintendent. It seemed like that would be a good place to start. Working on a communication plan between board members and the superintendent and staff so that they were all on the same page with how they’d communicate with one another. We also did talk about moving towards some areas for a strategic plan. Of course, the board should give the district those high level goals and then the strategy behind that was administrative because they would be the ones to execute the strategy to meet those goals and then she would be accountable to the board members for those goals so those were some ideas that I had for that retreat.
15. DISCUSSION REGARDING BOARD PRIORITIES AND BOARD GOALS: Requested by Board Member Eloy G. Giron (Continued)
Dr. Elder stated she also had on the list the superintendent evaluation cycle whether it was her or someone else, the Board needed to have that in place. She was really looking at this for setting up the next permanent superintendent whoever it may be, for success with having those things in place from the board members.
Ms. Garcia stated that she felt that it should have been in place with our district anyway, and it had been an awakening for her personally as president of the board of how many things they hadn't done that needed to be done. It was no one’s fault, but they needed to sit down, put themselves to work and finalize some of the mandatory requirements as a board for lots of different things, mainly communications with them and the superintendent, the cabinet and others in the district, and told Mr. Giron that included their goals. She appreciated everyone committing to the two full days of work.
Discussion ensued regarding the retreat, during which Mr. Smith reiterated that he didn’t think waiting on the superintendent search was fair.
Ms. Garcia stated that the item has been discussion only; no action was needed.
16. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING ADDING BOARD MEETING DATES TO CALENDAR FOR THE 2022-23 FY (May 2, 2023 and June 6, 2023) TO ADDRESS BOARD POLICIES AND OTHER ITEMS AS NEEDED
Ms. Garcia stated that they had discussed there was not enough time look at policies with only one board meeting a month. Discussion ensued regarding the make up of the those meetings. Ms. Garcia then called for a motion.
Mr. Vickers moved, and Mr. Bennett seconded, to add Regular Board Meeting Dates May 2, 2023 and June 6, 2023 to the board meeting calendar. There being no further discussion, Ms. Garcia called for a vote regarding Item #16 with the following results: Eloy Giron – yes ; Bruce Bennett – yes; P. David Vickers – yes; Bryan C. Smith – yes; and Tina Garcia – yes. Motion to approve adding two meetings to the 2022-23 FY board calendar passed: 5/0.
17. APPROVAL OF LLS BOARD OF EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS (Recipients will be announced at the Senior Awards Ceremonies)
Ms. Garcia stated the board members had individually reviewed the applicant packs and made their selection as to which applicants they felt best met the criteria. She called for a motion to award the scholarships.
Mr. Bennett moved, and Mr. Vickers seconded, to approve the recipients as listed on the applicant spreadsheet. There being no further discussion, Ms. Garcia called for a vote regarding Item with the following results: Eloy Giron – yes; Bruce Bennett – yes; P. David Vickers – yes; Bryan C. Smith – yes; and Tina Garcia – yes. Motion to approve the LLS BoE Scholarship Recipients passed: 5/0.
Note: Notification was sent to the respective principals. The recipients will be announced at their Senior Awards Ceremonies. - ksw
18. FINANCE COMMITTEE ITEMS (Meeting Held April 11, 2023)
A. Approval of Reports for March 2023
i. Schedule of Checks Written (Approved by Consent)
ii. Cash on Hand (Approved by Consent)
iii. Investments on Hand (Approved by Consent)
iv. Monthly Budget Reports (Approved by Consent)
v. Revenue (Approved by Consent)
B. Approval of Budget Adjustment Requests (BARS)
i. 31703 SB-9 State Match Increase Budgeted Cash to Audited Cash (Approved by Consent)
ii. 23000 Non- Instructional Support Increase Budgeted Cash to Audited Cash
(Approved by Consent)
iii. 22000 Athletics Increase Budgeted Cash to Audited Cash
(Approved by Consent)
iv. 41000 GO Debt Services Increase Budgeted Cash to Audited Cash
(Approved by Consent)
18. FINANCE COMMITTEE ITEMS (Meeting Held April 11, 2023) (Continued)
B. Approval of Budget Adjustment Requests (BARS) (Cont.)
v. 31600 Capital Improvements HB-33 Increase Budgeted Cash to Audited Cash
(Approved by Consent)
vi. 31100 GO Bond Building Increase Budgeted Cash to Audited Cash
(Approved by Consent)
vii. 25145 Impact Aid Special Education Increase Budgeted Cash to Audited Cash
(Approved by Consent)
viii. 25147 Impact Aid Indian Education Transfer (Approved by Consent)
ix. 25147 Impact Aid Indian Education Increase Budgeted Cash to Audited Cash (Approved by Consent)
x. 25153 Medicaid Increase Budgeted Cash to Audited Cash
(Approved by Consent)
xi. 28189 GRADS Child Care Increase Budgeted Cash to Audited Cash (Approved by Consent)
xii. 11000 Operational Increase Budgeted Cash to Audited Cash
(Approved by Consent)
C. Approval of Budget Adjustment Request (BAR - Not Requiring Public Education
Department (PED) Approval): 28190 GRADS Instruction Maintenance BAR
(Approved by Consent)
D. Approval of Purchases
i. Be Glad LLC, for Professional Development in Language Acquisition & Literacy 24194 CLSD (Approved by Consent)
ii. Assistive Technology Vendors for LLS Students 24308, 24330 & 24346
ESSER II, ESSER III & IDEA B ARP (Approved by Consent)
iii. CDW Government Inc., for ELT E-Sports Club 27408 – ELT (Approved by Consent)
E. Approval of Construction Contract: CES c/o Robert Cohen, for VMS Ballfield – Softball Batting Cage, Bleachers & Dugouts 31167 – Bond (Approved by Consent)
F. APPROVAL OF DELETION OF FIXED ASSETS (Approved by Consent)
G. APPROVAL OF 2023-24 APPLICATION TO NMPED FOR TITLE III LANGUAGE
INSTRUCTION FOR ENGLISH LEARNERS AND IMMIGRANT STUDENTS (Approved by Consent)
19. NEW BUSINESS: Board Member Requests for Topics for Upcoming Board Work
Sessions and/or Board Meetings
Ms. Garcia noted that this item was for items board members would like to see on upcoming meetings or work sessions.
Mr. Bennett asked that they be given information regarding installing metal detectors at the middle and high schools. This would include the include the legalities, cost analysis for the equipment, and cost of additional employees to man those stations.
20. ANNOUNCEMENT OF MEETINGS
Ms. Garcia stated that took them to Item # 20. ANNOUNCEMENT OF MEETINGS. She added that, as allowed by the NM Open Meetings Act and the District’s Open Meetings Resolution, on occasion, a quorum of the board members would attend the same function, including those held at school sites, as well as, sports functions, conferences, workshops, and trainings, including end-of-year activities and ceremonies. Board members would refrain from discussing and/or acting on LLS Board issues in those settings. In addition, only official meetings were published, and if other meetings were scheduled, they would be announced in accordance with the Open Meetings Act. Ms. Garcia then announced the following meetings:
• May 2, 2023 Regular Board Meeting 6:00 pm CO Board Room Meeting to Address Board Policies and Other Items if Needed
• May 9, 2023 Finance Committee 3:00 pm CO Board Room
• May 9, 2023 Special Board Meeting 6:00 pm CO Board Room Consideration of Action to Approve Budget 2023-24 FY Pending PED Approval (Quorum in Attendance)
• May 23, 2023 Regular Board Meeting 6:00 pm CO Board Room
20. ANNOUNCEMENT OF MEETINGS (Continued)
• May 30 and 31, 2023 Board/Superintendent Retreat 8:00 am – 4:30 pm UNM-Valencia, Workforce Training Center 1020 Huning Ranch East Loop Los Lunas, NM 87031 Discussion Purposes Only - No Action Taken (Quorum in Attendance)
21. ADJOURNMENT
Ms. Garcia stated that brought them to Item #21. ADJOURNMENT. She then called for a motion to adjourn the meeting.
Mr. Bennett moved, and Mr. Giron seconded, to adjourn the meeting. There being no discussion, Ms. Garcia called for a vote with the following results: Bruce Bennett – yes; Eloy Giron – yes; Bryan C. Smith – yes; P. David Vickers – yes; and Tina Garcia – yes. Motion to adjourn the meeting passed: 5-0.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 pm.
Approved this 23rd day of May 2023.
Tina Garcia, Board President
Bruce Bennett, Board Secretary