Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

School board to consider posthumous honor

CLOVIS — From the time he joined Clovis Municipal Schools as a teacher in 1965, to his retirement in 2001, to the two times he came out of retirement to serve as interim superintendent, G.C. Ross made countless impacts with the district.

On Tuesday, the Clovis school board will consider a posthumous honor for Ross by renaming the CMS administration building the G.C. Ross Administration Building.

The 5:30 p.m. meeting will be held virtually, with Zoom meeting ID 88109989913 and passcode 312911.

Ross, a Portales native and Eastern New Mexico University graduate, began his time with CMS as a fourth-grade teacher at Eugene Field in 1965, before becoming principal two years later. He opened Lockwood Elementary in 1971 and spent 15 years there before he was named assistant superintendent for instruction.

Ross died Aug. 21 at his home at 82 following a 15-month battle with pancreatic cancer.

Other items on the Tuesday agenda include:

• An update on Clovis High School’s participation in the National Math and Science Initiative.

The school received up to $336,802 from the Department of Defense for two years. The grant payment helps fund activities associated with Advanced Placement courses — a series of 15 college-level classes created by the College Board and offered at high schools throughout the United States and Canada. Each class includes an optional end-of-year exam that can lead to college placement and scholarships at American colleges and universities.

The optional test includes a $94 fee, half of which is paid through the grant monies. The grant also provides money for teacher training and cash incentives for students who place well on the end-of-year exams.

Although all students are eligible to participate, the NMSI program targets schools with high populations of military children because AP courses are the same no matter where their families relocate.

• A COVID-19 update from Superintendent Renee Russ. The district plans to begin hybrid learning Sept. 28 for preschool through fifth grade, after Curry County was cleared by the state to begin phasing in face-to-face instruction.