School board asked to deed land

The Tucumcari school board heard a formal presentation Dec. 16 from a Mesalands Community College official asking the district to deed a piece of land to the college so it can build a dormitory there.

Aaron Kennedy, the college’s vice president of the student affairs, said residence halls at a vacant lot at Gamble Avenue and 11th Street that serves as a bonfire site for the high school’s Homecoming game would represent “a nice opportunity” for the college while it remodels an adjacent former armory it acquired earlier this year.

Kennedy said the new dorms would serve well with the college’s planned expansion of its sports programs.

He said parents of prospective students also often ask about residence halls; the only one Mesalands offers is Stampede Village.

He said having Mesalands students living on-campus for one year further connects them to the college. Citing his experiences from more than 40 years ago, Kennedy said he continues to stay in touch with some residents of his former dorm floor.

Kennedy said the residence halls, which would house up to 150 students, would be staffed with a hall director, plus resident assistants on each floor. Meals would be served at the nearby armory, which is being converted into a student center.

To fund the project, Kennedy said “I think we have a very good shot” at using bonds to construct it.

Mesalands President John Groesbeck was unable to attend the board’s meeting but sent along a letter, asking to “begin a discussion” on transferring the parcel to the college.

“We feel our efforts to increase enrollment on campus will become a vital part of the overall economic and social development for Tucumcari and will provide a great benefit to all in the community as we bring more students to campus,” Groesbeck stated.

Board President Carlos Romero noted the proposal wasn’t an action item, but he wanted to ensure current and future board members heard it before making a decision on it early next year.

“I think it’s a big plus,” he said of the plan.

Outgoing board member Corinne Hayes also expressed her support for Mesalands dorms, especially for freshman students who still need some supervision.

In other business:

n Superintendent Aaron McKinney said he found a surveyor who wasn’t booked weeks in advance to examine the baseball and softball fields the district seeks to redevelop as part of a proposed $3 million bond election in February. However, he said city officials have been unable to locate the deed to its part of the property. The survey cannot proceed until the deed is found.

• McKinney showed board members a tri-fold informational brochure about the bond election the district will distribute next month. The school district will cover the Feb. 18 mail-in special election’s cost of more than $10,000.

• As part of the consent agenda, the board approved donations of $100 from Martha Whitesides and $25 from Lewis Kirk and Melissa Trier Kirk to be used to help defray the cost of printing programs, purchase hoodies for musicians and travel expenses for a concert in Albuquerque for the elementary school’s Nyoka Marimba Band.

• The board approved a first reading of a new policy regarding medical care management for students with diabetes.

• Outgoing board members Romero, Hayes and Fernando Ureste gave brief remarks about their tenures and well wishes to their successors. McKinney gave each of them plaques in appreciation. Romero and Hayes declined to run for re-election; Victor Matthew Pacheco and Bo William Wallace will replace them next month. Jerry Joe Lopez defeated Ureste in his re-election bid. Romero, who served on the board for 13 years, said “a lot’s been accomplished” and added: “I think I’m leaving it in pretty good hands.”

• The board approved Romero as a representative of the school board for the El Llano Estacado RC&D Council.