Parents raise violence concerns at meeting

CLOVIS — The Clovis Municipal Schools Board of Education began its transition from retiring Superintendent Jody Balch to incoming Superintendent Renee Russ on Tuesday, approving a pair of contracts for Russ during its Tuesday meeting.

If the crowd at the meeting was any indication, however, Russ and the board will have a few issues to tackle right from the start with student safety.

Parents Rebecca Carlyle and Sarah Morrow attended the meeting and spoke during the public comment portion, with each detailing different incidents of violence they felt wasn’t adequately addressed by the schools.

Carlyle said her middle-school daughter was targeted by numerous students after she came forward to administration with information about students using marijuana in the schools. She said her daughter took more than 20 kicks to the head and face, and the instigator of the fight was suspended for just a few days.

“Our discipline matrix must be addressed and changed,” Carlyle said.

Morrow said her son has been punched by another student, and that the perpetrator was also back in class a few days later. She said an Instagram account is dedicated to fights at Yucca Middle School, and while she hated to see her son recorded a fight she was alarmed to discover some administrators didn’t immediately intervene in some scuffles.

“We have fights, constant fights,” Morrow said. “Not small fights, brutal attacks.”

Morrow said when she attended Clovis High with Balch as principal, those things didn’t happen because, “we were scared of him; he was doing his job.” She said she’s gone up the chain of command at schools to no avail, and called on the board to take action.

“Parents need to start being held accountable when we have these repeat offenders,” Morrow said.

Board member Terry Martin said there wasn’t anything the board could do during the Tuesday night meeting with no item on the agenda, but told the parents, “We hear you and we hear you well, and we will be addressing it.”

The board quickly approved the contracts for Russ in a 3-0 vote — Martin, President Cindy Osburn and Shawn Hamilton were the board members attending.

Russ’ salary will be $153,000 per year. Her contract also includes use of a school-owned vehicle, a cellular phone allowance of $1,000 annually and paid memberships for any local civic organizations she wishes to join.

Russ will also have a contract as interim superintendent, effective during June. For any days she acts as superintendent in Balch’s absence, she would receive an additional $235.39 per day in addition to the salary for her current position as deputy director of federal programs.

Board comments were brief, with Hamilton saying, “I’ve read through it; it looks good to me,” and Martin saying, “I didn’t have any questions.”

In other business during the Tuesday meeting:

• The board approved a $65.9 million budget for the upcoming year, with most of the $7 million increase coming from state-mandated increases in salary and benefits ($5.35 million). Other expenses include the new iAcademy ($778,497) and educational retirement board costs ($531.176).

The state is covering all but $178,000 of the increases.

• Superintendent of Operations Carrie Bunce gave a lengthy report on summer work for the district. She said Highland teachers received a tour of their new building and were “ecstatic” over what they saw from the building set to open for the 2019-20 school year.

Bunce said 1,500 desks have been pulled from Clovis High School, and only 250 of them were salvageable for other schools. Bunce said it was shocking to see how many students personally thanked her and other staffers for the upgrades.

“It’s embarrassing when a desk collapses on you,” Bunce said. “It was a daily occurrence over there.”

Work on Mesa and Barry elementaries may qualify for Public Schools Finance Authority assistance, meaning the district would only pay for 20 percent of any upgrades it made on those facilities.

• The board recognized Balch with its annual New Mexico School Boards Association Student Achievement Award, and said goodbye as it was his final meeting as superintendent.

The award, despite its title, is awarded not to a student but to somebody who helps students achieve.

Martin said Balch was a rarity for the position, given his history in Clovis.

“You’ve come full circle, from student to teacher to principal to superintendent,” Martin said. “It’s remarkable we have someone locally who did all of those things.”

Balch thanked the board, and noted he always had a great team behind him.

“It’s been a wonderful opportunity,” Balch said. “I can’t thank you enough for that opportunity.”