Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
CLOVIS — A fixture of Clovis High School football games — stolen nearly 60 years ago from a steam engine — may soon be back on the locomotive.
Consideration of the return of the Clovis High football/band bell is included under Superintendent Jody Balch's report to the Clovis Municipal Schools board of directors.
The story behind the bell is that it was stolen in 1959 off of the steam engine formerly parked at Hillcrest Park. Balch said the bell used to be towed to Clovis' road football games, but now it is used sparingly and resides at Leon Williams Stadium.
He said Clovis MainStreet recently purchased a replica bell and the district plans to swap bells so the locomotive — now located at the downtown railroad museum — will have its bell back.
"We think it's a good idea as a district to give them their bell back and recreate the locomotive to be as near exact as it was back in the day ... We'll take the reproduction bell and life goes on," Balch said.
"(The bell) used to have a lot of nostalgia to it back in the '60s and '70s but I don't think it quite has that aura that it used to."
Other items on the agenda for the 5:30 p.m. meeting today at the administration building at 1009 Main St. include:
• A vote on the authorization of $7 million of general obligation bonds from the $20 million approved by voters in February 2017.
Balch said the district typically sells bonds in $5 million increments, but it will be able to take advantage of matching dollars from the state by selling an extra $2 million this time.
He said that money will be used for Highland Elementary construction, parking lot improvements and possibly an expansion at Barry Elementary.
• A vote on two changes to board policy, including a change that would improve the priority for the students of teachers looking to enroll in district schools.
A revised board policy regarding staff conduct with students and maintaining professional relationships will also be introduced. Board policy changes are first introduced before being voted on at the following meeting.
The policy finetunes specific prohibited staff behavior including inappropriate physical contact, off-color jokes, providing drugs or alcohol to a student and socializing with students outside of school activities.
Balch said typically any violations are subject to termination.
• The removal of several items from the district's inventory, including recalled defibrillators, the old Parkview Elementary school, seven stolen iPads and computers.
A new Parkview opened this school year and the old building is set to be demolished in August 2019 after hosting Highland Elementary students during the current school year while the new Highland building is constructed.
