Portales school board OKs calendar

By Kevin Wilson

EDITOR

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PORTALES — With the COVID-19 pandemic affecting every part of life, and school operation no exception, “same thing as last year” has become one of the rarer statements uttered.

But that’s the approach Portales Municipal Schools is taking with the 2021-22 school year, as board members approved next year’s calendar with the dates one day different due to the shift of a year.

Instruction will begin Aug. 16, and conclude May 27.

The calendar includes 176 instructional days and seven days of professional development for teachers, and Assistant Superintendent of Instruction and Assessment Henry Montano said the school will observe the same spring break as Eastern New Mexico University.

Superintendent Johnnie Cain said the district will again hold off on a state recommendation to add 10 extra days for extended learning and a K-5 Plus program. Cain said recent legislation allows districts to resist the change so long as they make a case in writing as to how they will address learning loss due to the pandemic. Cain said his written justification would be similar to what he submitted for the 2020-21 school year, but warned the board the additional instruction days may become mandatory in the next few years.

Cain said in general, students are not showing learning loss, but rather have just made smaller gains than during non-pandemic years.

“If you’re not doing what you need to in 176 days,” Cain said, “10 days of doing what you haven’t been doing won’t help.”

The meeting was held in the Portales Junior High cafeteria, and was the first meeting with in-person attendance from both the board and adminstrative representatives. Since a special meeting March 15, 2020, to first address the pandemic, at least one component of each meeting has been handled virtually.

In other business at the Monday meeting:

• Cain reported Finance Director Sarah Stubbs was awarded the Roadrunner award as the top school business official by the New Mexico Association of School Business Officials.

Cain said the award was announced during a virtual meeting held statewide, and he had to keep the trophy hidden from Stubbs until he snuck over to her office and made the in-person presentation.

“She’s been doing a great job for us,” Cain said, “and I know she’s helped other business managers across the state.”

• The board awarded upcoming construction work on Brown Early Childhood Center to Weil Construction. Cain said Weil was one of three firms interviewed, and all three were extremely close on the scoring metric.

• Cain said the district has reported three COVID-19 exposures since starting in-person learning, impacting 10 students and three teachers.

“I think the kids are doing a really good job (following safety protocols), and parents are keeping their kids home if they aren’t feeling well,” Cain said. “It hasn’t been an issue for us.”

• A third round of federal funding to offset COVID-19 impacts, Cain said, could net the school around $8.1 million over the next three years. He intends to use the money on extra teachers, but warned the board it’s difficult to find teachers just to fill its current positions.

• Portales High Principal Arturo Ontiveros said the school has put two in-person activities back on the calendar — a May 12 National Honor Society ceremony and a May 22 prom. The prom, Ontiveros said, will run 8 p.m. to midnight outside of the school. Maypole ceremonies will not be held, Ontiveros said, as there were still too many logistical hurdles.

• The board approved disposal of a tablesaw through auction. Cain said the equipment was decades old, and likely represented several code violations were the district to use it now.

• The board met for 15 minutes in executive session to decide on scholarship and awards recipients, and voted on those selection when open session resumed. To protect student privacy, the selections were referred to in generic terms. The New Mexico School Board Association scholarship, for instance, was awarded to applicant F-3.

• The next board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. May 10, location to be determined.