Year in review: Clovis native hired as superintendent

In the Clovis school system, a former student, teacher and principal in the system was elevated to its highest office midway through 2014.

In the week following the graduation of 419 seniors — a first-time grouping of students from both Clovis High School and Choices Alternative School — Jody Balch was named as new superintendent in late May by a 4-0 vote.

Balch is the first Clovis native hired to serve as superintendent in 50 years, dating back to the December 1964 hire of Vernon Mills. Balch, a 1975 graduate of Clovis High, was a freshman when Mills retired in 1972.

He replaced Terry Myers, who left after four years to take a superintendent’s position in Crockett, Texas, to be closer to family.

Balch taught electronics and auto mechanics at CHS for 13 years, and an additional three years at Marshall Junior High before entering administration. He spent two years as assistant principal and seven years as principal of Marshall and five years as principal at CHS, before he was Bovina High School’s principal for a year.

He returned to Clovis, where he was deputy superintendent of operations for CMS before becoming CMS deputy superintendent under Myers.

“He knows the district,” CMS Board of Education President Terry Martin said at the time of the hire. “He knows the people. He made his career here. We are willing to work with him in the future … as he takes the district forward.”

In his first year, Balch has tackled numerous policy changes.

• In June, Balch ended the nine-year-old policy of early releases on Wednesdays, which was originally created to give teachers professional development time. He said the 12:45 p.m. Wednesday releases took 10 percent of actual instruction time from students, and that the students might be further distracted those days knowing the early release is coming.

• In August, Balch told officials at a city-county luncheon that based on looks at school shootings across the nation, the best action was to try to get off campus instead of gathering in a common area where a shooter would simply have more targets. He said he’d rather find students safe in a residential neighborhood than injured or killed on campus.

Clovis High School had a lockdown in early November, when somebody called the school and said the school would be shot up. Though the secretary receiving the call said it sounded like a prank, administration and law enforcement was alerted. The lockdown was lifted about two hours after the call was first placed.

• In November, the school board agreed to change a six-year-old policy that required teachers to earn master’s degrees within five years of joining the school system.

The new policy requires teachers to reach Level II certification within five years, as required by the state, and then institutes a five-year deadline from Level II certification to earn a master’s. The increase to a 10-year window affects 124 current teachers in the district.

Balch said the old policy led to morale problems and turnover.

“A master’s is a good thing,” Balch said, “but there are a lot of good teachers without one.”

The school was not without its criticism, as it suspended three students over what became known as the “Smarties incident.”

Three students from Marshall Middle School were suspended 12 days. What was not disputed was that the candies were crushed into powder.

The students were accused of crushing it to snort, but argued they were blowing it at each other. The candy has no narcotic properties, but snorting the powder can cause asthma attacks and long-term breathing issues.

In 2015, three CMS board positions are up for election in the school board. In Districts 3, 4, and 5, current members Paul Cordova, Jennifer Burrill and Terry Martin are running for re-election, respectively. Cordova will run unopposed in the Feb. 3 election, while Burrill will face Clovis City Engineer Justin Howalt and Martin will face former educator Jose Griego.

Of the nine positions up in rural school districts — three each in Grady, Melrose and Texico — there are only two contested races. In Texico, Cliff Franklin and Chad Davis are running for Position 2. In Grady, Allen Wade-Edwards and Leona Powell are running for Position 1 and Jack Driever and Jerome Provenicio are running for Position 3.