Portales superintendent announces after-school enrichment

Staff returned to the Portales Municipal School District on Monday to begin the new school year.

Students in grades third through 12 will return to classes on August 12, according to the district. August 22, kindergarten through second grade students will return to classes and August 23, pre-kindergarten classes begin.

The Portales Municipal School Board met on Monday, at which time Superintendent Johnnie Cain presented a report to the board. He stated in the report that the district hired “two new individuals to become our after-school coordinators. They will work together to create after-school enrichment opportunities in all of our schools and to get the youth sports going. One will center her duties more toward the enrichment programming and the other sports, but they will work as a team to ensure we are moving forward.

“We closed the bus barn property deal on July 21, and the property is now deeded to the Portales Municipal School District,” the report states. “I am still waiting on the state to provide funding letters for new buses that must be replaced. According to the deputy secretary in charge of capital outlay, he is waiting for DFA to release the funds. Then we will order 3 buses. There is one bus on the lot at Robert’s Bus in Albuquerque that we hope to purchase as soon as funds are released and then we will order two new buses.”

The superintendent also stated in the report that the Brown Early Childhood Center certificate of occupancy was issued on August 2nd. Some additional work on the parking lot and sidewalks still needs to be finished.

He has drawings from Lydick Engineering on a solution to the drainage at the portables at BECC, the report states. It will mean adding a new concrete diversion ditch and some dirt work on the east at the east parking area. “Hopefully this will solve the problem of the water pooling in the parking area and center of the portables.”

At Valencia Elementary the new ADA playground is ready for use, he stated. He “hopes” to order some new ADA playground equipment for Lindsay-Steiner in the future.

Cain said he plans to make application for funding to put a new roof on Portales Junior High School. During the summer, the rains caused some leaking that damaged the tiles in the hallway.