Portales schools begin year with more security

PNT correspondent

Portales Municipal Schools Board of Education members heard about how the district is winding down from the summer by finishing up 20 maintenance projects at their Monday night meeting.

Director of Maintenance Nat Gomez reported that maintenance officials installed multiple new security measures on Portales High School and Junior High School campuses over the summer.

“There are lots of benefits, best of which is the safety of our kids,” said Gomez.

Gomez said they added access card entry to 140 entrances and exits district-wide, guaranteeing that no building can be entered without an access card.

He said the advantages include the ability to disable the cards when they are lost, unlike keys and a lock down button which will secure the building in the case of crisis.

He also said officials repositioned multiple security cameras for better coverage and added security gates around the campuses.

“These are not there to make anyone feel unwelcome; they are there for the safety of our kids, our faculty and our staff,” said Gomez.

He also reported that over the course of seven weeks, the district had installed a new HVAC system in Valencia Elementary, allowing each teacher to control their own thermostat within their own classroom.

He said one classroom can have the heat on while another can have the air conditioning running, a large change compared to the six classrooms to a thermostat system that they replaced.

Henry Montaño, director of federal programs, reported that Jumpstart Summer School, held at James Elementary, had been concluded after their two-week run with very positive reports.

“We got positive responses from parents, and the teachers were excited to be proactive in education,” said Montaño.

He said they served 82 children with nine teachers, and the students will remain with their summer school teachers throughout the school year in first, second and third grades.

Other items on the agenda for the Monday night school board meeting were the following:

• Board members were introduced to the new school resource officer Sgt. Eric Muller from the Portales Police Department.

• Board members approved a letter of agreement between the district and the New Mexico Finance Authority to be ratified due to a clerical error that led to the district being overcharged in interest by $14,000. The district will be repaid through a lower interest rate on their loan over the course of 14 years, according to Director of Finance Sarah Marquez

• Board members approved maintaining the district’s current vision and mission statement: “All students will be provided a quality education. All students will be productive and successful citizens.”

• Board members approved the declaration that certain sets of old computer systems are obsolete so their hard drives could be destroyed.

• Board members approved the annual finance department manual of procedures.

• The board heard the district personnel report. A total of 14 teachers were hired for Brown Early Childhood Center, Portales High School, Portales Junior High School and Lindsey-Steiner Elementary.

Justin Foust, a PHS history teacher, Dana Russ, a LSE teacher, Nicole Cunningham, a BECC instructor, and Shareesa Nusser, a LSE teacher, all resigned.

• Board members approved 17 budget adjustment requests. According to Marquez, 15 of the requests adjusted the budget to account for money that was left over at the end of the fiscal year that was not budgeted originally. With these budget adjustments, the district has an ending balance of $299,000.

• The board approved the awarding of bids to companies that will provide student nutrition services. All three companies, Labatt, Gandy’s and Bimbo Bakeries, have four-year contracts that must be renewed annually, beginning last year.

• Board members approved the paying of bills and expenditures.

• Board members heard a report from Superintendent Johnnie Cain, who said PHS band teacher Jennifer Johnson will be out for the first weeks of school, and Eastern New Mexico University music professor Richard Schwartz will be filling in for her.

• Board members heard a report from Cain regarding capital outlay money requested in March. According to Cain, the district has been approved for $54,000 in order to do bathroom work and add sinks to the classrooms in the BECC. He said, due to late notice, this project will more than likely be postponed for a year.

• Board members heard a report from Gomez regarding a well on the Portales Cemetery grounds used to irrigate the PHS practice fields. He said the well can water four zones without losing pressure compared to only one zone with their last water supply. Cain added that the school’s water bill was also $8,000 less due to the well.

• Board members announced that school will begin this Friday for grades 3-12 and Aug. 18 for PreK-second. They also announced that the open house for all schools will take place 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursday.