San Jon approves contract with firm

SAN JON — The San Jon Municipal Schools board last week approved a contract with an Albuquerque architectural firm to oversee repairs and improvements to school facilities, including a roof of which the project manager expressed grave concerns.

The contract was awarded to Formative Architecture of Albuquerque, which will receive up to $131,200 in total services. The district pays 36.51% of that, or $47,901.12, and the state covers the rest. The project is part of the so-called “big grant” of $2.8 million the school district received in October 2019.

Ian Harmon of Albuquerque, the district’s project manager, told the board that core samples of the roof will be taken to see how many layers exist and how much water has infiltrated buildings.

He said the type of metal roof on San Jon school buildings was common 20 years ago but “leak like a sieve.”

“I've never seen a roof like that, to be honest,” he said of San Jon’s.

Harmon said a new roof’s cost might exceed the funds the district has on hand. If that’s the case, he said the state could allocate emergency funds to cover it.

When asked whether roof work would begin quickly, Harmon said, “We’ll start on the roof sooner than later.”

Board members and superintendent Janet Gladu admitted the roof leaks each time it rains.

Harmon also said the boiler needs to be replaced. He said a company also will perform a topographical survey and title search of the school grounds to see what to do about poor drainage there.

Harmon also said some work may need to be “cut back” due to “volatile” construction costs. Gladu said she would examine whether new fencing — one of the items on the big grant — might be covered by federal coronavirus relief money.

Harmon said he anticipated construction would begin on big-grant projects by October 2022.

In other business:

• Board Vice President Tommy Evans submitted his resignation, effective Nov. 4. He said in his Oct. 14 letter his work with the board was “highly rewarding,” but “I feel there is too much conflict between my current position at Tucumcari Public Schools and my duties as a San Jon School Board member to remain.”

Evans, elected in November 2019, is a faculty member at TPS.

The board voted to accept the resignation. Board President Frank Gibson advised the board to not appoint a replacement until its Jan. 10 meeting, when new board members who were elected Nov. 2 are seated.

• Gladu informed the board of a rule issued Oct. 13 by the New Mexico Public Education Department, stating school districts and schools “shall follow all public health orders, executive orders and department guidance, including the COVID-19 response toolkit for New Mexico’s public schools, for the operation of schools, school-sponsored activities and school premises, including school transportation.”

She said the new PED policy “has teeth” to persuade school districts to follow coronavirus edicts. The Floyd school board remains under suspension by PED after it officially voted in August to flout mask mandates.