Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The Tucumcari school board on Aug. 19 gave its superintendent a one-year contract extension with a 6% pay raise after delaying its decision during its May meeting.
The board, without discussion from members, unanimously approved the pact with Aaron McKinney after a 20-minute closed session, including about five minutes with him.
His contract now will expire July 1, 2022. He will be paid $120,428 a year. McKinney has been the district’s superintendent for 13 years.
The extension was retroactive to July 1. Business manager Leola Patterson questioned back-dating the pact, fearing it would be flagged by the district’s auditor.
McKinney disagreed, noting his other contracts also had been retroactive by a few months and that he had continued to work as the contract was being negotiated.
The board was scheduled to vote on McKinney’s contract during its May meeting, but action was tabled for further discussion.
Board President Carlos Romero said the delay wasn’t because board members objected to the extension.
“His contract was up for review, and we were waiting for some information for him to bring back to us,” Romero said, later explaining some of that data was other superintendents’ salaries. “We made a decision based on what he brought back to us. We’re happy with him.”
McKinney declined to comment after the meeting adjourned.
In other business by the board:
• The board approved, without comment, the final reading of policy changes that address giving medicine to students, including medical marijuana. One of the changes requires not a physician to give medication and medical marijuana, but an “authorized health care professional.” Written permission from a parent is required to allow the school or student to give prescription medication, over-the-counter drugs or cannabis. All drugs, including cannabis, must come in a prescription container or original container.
• The board wants a special meeting at the unit office with city commissioners on a joint plan to renovate the baseball and softball diamonds. School officials still haven’t set the meeting, citing scheduling conflicts with several city commissioners. Drawings of the plan will be shown at the meeting. McKinney said it’s likely the city will sign off on the proposal: “I think most of them have their minds made up it’s going to happen.” The ballpark renovations will be part of a future bond package decided by voters.
• The board approved a first reading of several policy advisories that mainly deal with absenteeism.
• During superintendent reports, the board heard the report how much is spent per student. Amounts were roughly the same across the district: $10,836.38 per student in the high school, $9,156.38 in the middle school, $10,406.28 in the elementary school and $5,568.61 for the half-day preschool.
• The state approved the district’s 2019-2020 operating budget that projects $15.8 million in expenditures.
• It heard two high-school students, Dominick Jasper and Nathan Griego, read from a script that urged a policy that bans the use, possession and distribution of tobacco, liquid nicotine and e-cigarettes on school grounds 24 hours a day. It was at least the third straight year Tucumcari students had asked for the ban. Romero said he would ask for a review of the policy and report back by the board’s October meeting.
• During the board comments, Heather Gonzales asked for an update about drills and policies about actions taken during school shootings. The said there is some confusion from parents, students and teachers on what to do, and “everybody needs to be on the same page.” McKinney said more staff training is likely this year, but “there’s no perfect scenario” on how to address school shootings.
• Board member Fernando Ureste asked whether the playground at the elementary school can made wheelchair-accessible. McKinney said the playground sits on a hill where it would be difficult to build access at a proper grade. He said he’ll look at possibly using a state Department of Transportation grant to address it.