Accusations against school member come up at meeting

CLOVIS - Allegations against a Clovis Municipal Schools Board of Education member were the focus of the open forum section of Tuesday's meeting.

Kyle Snider, who has served as the school board member for District 1 since 2013 according to the CMS website, was charged in May with two counts of petty misdemeanor battery stemming from an alleged incident on March 24 at Guy Leeder softball complex where he is accused of inappropriate contact with a concession stand employee.

At Tuesday's meeting, citizen Constance Williams requested some kind of response from the board regarding the allegations against Snider.

"As a member of the community and as a mother of children in the school system, I want to see action taken on this issue because I feel that it's necessary to address behavior, personal or professional, of members of the school board when it interferes and basically steps across the line," Williams said..

"Essentially I'm expecting my board members to behave in ways that exemplify leadership and exemplify something that not only myself but my children and teachers and everybody else in the district can look towards. The allegations that I have heard of make me have question about the role that he should play on the school board."

According to the school board's policies, board members cannot take action on or discuss any questions or comments that come from the open forum.

"As with our policy we can't give you answers right now but I will get back with you to address some of your concerns," President Terry Martin told Williams.

After the meeting Martin said he did not have a timeline for addressing the allegations.

Snider had a pre-trial hearing at Curry County Magistrate Court on Tuesday morning. His next scheduled court appearance is a docket call on August 27.

Snider declined to comment after the meeting, citing advisement from his attorney.

Also at Tuesday's meeting:

• The board approved procurement of services resolutions for members Snider, Shawn Hamilton and Paul Cordova.

According to the resolutions, Snider's company Snider Electric, Inc. provides electrical services, Hamilton's company Hamilton Ford provides vehicle maintenance and repairs and Cordova's company Cielo LLC provides disc jockey services to the district.

The resolutions state that a proposal from a board member's company for a school district contract must be treated equally with other applications and the board member must abstain from voting on the contract.

All three resolutions were approved by a 4-0 vote, with the board member in question abstaining.

• The board unanimously approved funding for a project to construct a new wing at Barry Elementary to be used for additional classroom space.

Deputy Superintendent of Operations Carrie Bunce said the state will contribute $667,714 and the district would make up the difference of $1,832,286 for the estimated $2.5 million project.

Bunce said construction is expected to begin in May 2019.

• The board unanimously approved a travel request for the Clovis High School FFA to attend the National FFA Milk Quality Contest and Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, in October.

• State Land Office Commissioner Aubrey Dunn gave a presentation to the board. Dunn said the around $15 million of the school district's $70 million operating budget - or about 21 percent, is furnished by the state land office.

• The board unanimously approved several funding and grant applications for the 2018-19 school year.