Bond increase discussed for technology institute

The Clovis Board of Education discussed adding a second ballot question to the Clovis Municipal School’s bond election in January.

The question would be added to the regular school bond election, which continues the general obligation bond at five mils, which taxes $132.15 a year on a $100,000 house.

The institute would be funded by a 1.25 mil increase in school bond taxes, according to Clovis Schools Superintendent Rhonda Seidenwurm. The additional property tax increase translates to $33.04 a year on a $100,000 house.

In a work session during the meeting board members discussed the possibility of creating a Career and Technology Institute for Clovis High School students.

Clovis Schools held an invitational community meeting Oct. 10 to gauge public interest in building a vocational institute. Seidenwurm said the response to the idea was positive.

Students who would go to the institute could earn an associates degree with their high school diploma, according to Clovis Deputy Superintendent Ladona Clayton who presented information about the institute to board members.

Clovis Community College executive vice president Becky Rowley said the institute would work with the college to provide heating, ventilation and air conditioning courses and students could also take industrial technology classes, where they could earn engineering credits.

Clayton also noted the possibility of offering pre-med and pre-law courses.

Seidenwurm said the facility would be finished in time for the 2011-2012 school year.

Seidenwurm said the institute would be built near CCC. She said the Board of Education will decide on adding a second question during the regular bond election regarding the facility during its Nov. 13 meeting.

If the board approves the bond question, she said it would meet with the college to formally request land for the institute.

“I see this as a win-win situation for Clovis Schools,” said board member Terry Martin. “There’s potential that we can do a whole lot with this, we want the whole community to buy into this.”

In other business:

—Seidenwurm announced nine-week report card results of the Clovis High School Freshman Campus. She said the number of failing grades from Clovis ninth-graders has dropped from 229 to 45.

“What (Freshman Campus Principal) Dianna Russell will tell you is that her staff is not happy with that number and it’s going to go down further.”

—Recognized the Clovis High School culinary arts program for winning the best in class award from the New Mexico Research and Study Council Quality Education Awards Program.

Family and Consumer Science Department Chairwoman Annette Hadley said the program received a four-year scholarship to University of New Mexico.

She said the student who receives the scholarship has to have a 3.5 GPA and an ACT score of 25.

She said 14 students passed the national ServSafe exam, which is a comprehensive food safety and handling test. She said 22 students took the exam.