School board discusses anti-bullying efforts

The Tucumcari Public Schools board of education discussed anti-bullying efforts with officials, and the board’s president also asked for a work session to talk about possible revisions to the dress code.

The board during its May 16 meeting took no action on those subjects, but an anti-bullying discussion had been added to its agenda after two board members requested it, superintendent Aaron McKinney said.

Board members quizzed McKinney, elementary school principal Tonya Hodges, middle school principal Lendall Borden and high school principal Nicole Bright-Lesly about the prevalence of bullying and how it is addressed.

Hodges said the elementary school had an anti-bullying program before the COVID-19 pandemic that McKinney said he intends to revive in the fall.

Bright-Lesly said some cases are not bullying, but two students who simply got into a spat with each other. Bullying is one-sided action, she said.

Bright-Lesly said phone texts often provide evidence on who was an instigator.

McKinney said getting a true picture of bullying sometimes is difficult because students and parents often become close-mouthed around school officials.

The district also can use a video surveillance system to collect evidence, though board president Heather Gonzales said a few cameras are inoperable. McKinney said that’s due to a server issue that district technologist Patrick Benavidez wants to address.

Board member Jerry Lopez said he’d heard more bullying complaints with the middle school. He asked whether the district’s bullying policy needs “more teeth” to hold parents accountable.

Borden said due to liability concerns, complaints have to go up the chain of command from the teacher to the principal, then to the superintendent. McKinney said a teacher would be liable if he or she saw bullying and didn’t act on it.

McKinney acknowledged the middle school doesn’t have a full-time counselor, though a contractor of such services can come to the schools several times a week. He said. He would restart the process to have one on staff in the 2022-2023 school year.

McKinney said he also was looking to add programs to combat bullying in the next school year.

Assistant superintendent Dave Johnson said bullying is defined as “persistent or consistent” conduct. Therefore, one racial slur uttered by a student, for example, isn’t bullying. He acknowledged school policies might seem less fair to a student who retaliates once against his or her tormenter and is caught doing it.

Gonzales also asked whether the board and district should re-examine its dress-code policy. McKinney, without elaborating, said it is “a growing issue,” and would make recommendations to any changes to the policy before the board decides whether to approve them. He said he likely would make it a discussion item at the board’s June meeting.

Gonzales, noting a trend of holes in jeans, said such attire might reflect a lower-income student instead of a fashion statement. She also said a few teachers would be hard-pressed to meet the code regarding piercings or tattoos.

She signaled she didn’t want an overly restrictive dress code.

“Let individuals be individuals,” she said.

In other business:

• During his superintendent’s report, McKinney said he still was trying to get the surveyor to finish its work on the ball diamonds redevelopment project, which has been delayed by the pandemic and the complexity of the survey involving city, county and school land.

He also cautioned because of supply issues, some items for the project may not be available for months. He said he ordered buildings for the project in March 2021 and still hadn’t received them.

Because of rising costs, McKinney said he would consider another bond issue in 2023 to finish the redevelopment. Voters passed a $3 million bond issue on the project in 2019.

Due to the lack of apparent movement on the project, Lopez said he was reluctant to support any sort of new bond issue.

McKinney said he would begin some construction on the ballparks project as soon as possible, including pouring concrete footings for the concession stand and restrooms, so the district can show some tangible progress.

“This has been a headache for us, too,” McKinney said. “We need to get it done. We’re tired of waiting.”

• McKinney said supply-chain issues and possible fuel shortages might delay replacement of climate-control units at the elementary school. He said a school in Rio Rancho isn’t scheduled to have its units replaced until January. McKinney pledged, however, that students still would have heating and cooling when school resumes in the fall.

• During board comments, Lopez asked McKinney how the district planned to address various types of cannabis that might be brought to school by students in the wake of legal sales starting in April.

McKinney acknowledged liquid cannabis and a variety of cannabis-infused edibles, including candy bars, chocolates and gummy bears, are difficult to identify. He said students also were allowed to bring in their own water bottles — a possible carrier of drinkable cannabis — during the COVID-19 pandemic.

While inspecting cannabis products at Tucumcari dispensaries, McKinney said he observed the majority of people buying cannabis are middle-aged, though that doesn’t always prevent a teenager from swiping cannabis from them. He said the only thing that comforted him is people cannot overdose on cannabis.

Johnson said cannabis would be treated as an illegal substance on campus, much like cigarettes.

• Lopez also asked food service director Eva Layne-Ryan about the school cafeteria running out of food. She said that happened only one time in mid-April when she was out of town for a funeral. She said records indicated the cafeteria was only five or six food items short that day, but she thought it was worse than that.

Layne-Ryan acknowledged the cafeteria occasionally may run short of a few of one of its entrees or sides. The food-service company serves two meals a day to about 700 students in the district. Board member Matthew Pacheco said the company’s service is exemplary, considering that a 90% accuracy rate on meal numbers still would mean 70 students wouldn’t be fed.

• The board voted 3-2 to table action on approving a cafeteria food service management contract with K-12 by Elior, the district’s current company. Lopez objected to approving the pact when a committee’s scoresheets to evaluate bidders, which included Genuine Foods and SFE, were not included in the board’s packet of information. Lopez said he wanted to look at those before approving the contract.

Later in the week, the board scheduled a special meeting for noon May 27 to decide on the contract.

• McKinney in his superintendent’s report noted the resignation of five positions in the district, including first-grade teacher Ann Hennig, who is leaving after 45 years.

• Board members presented Excellence in Student Achievement Award plaques to the elementary school’s Terri Modisette, middle school’s Danica Arguello and high school’s Eddie Encinias.

Business manager Janet Sanchez also received a five-year pin for her service to the district.

• The board approved the annual IDEA B funding grant application for disabled students.

• The board approved the 2022-2023 stipend salary schedule. Sanchez said there was no change except for state-mandated pay of $15 per hour for staff.

• The board approved an annual application for Title I and Title II money for the district for low-income students. Johnson said funding contained little changes, except it has slightly bigger perimeters for students who qualify.

• Board members went into a closed executive session for about 45 minutes to discuss salaries for upper-level administrators for the 2022-2023 school year. The board took no action on that when open session resumed.