New San Jon superintendent leads first meeting

SAN JON - Alan Umholtz presided over his first meeting last week of the San Jon school board about a month after being hired as superintendent, and he promptly delivered favorable news - a rise in enrollment.

During his superintendent's report at the board's Aug. 8 regular meeting, Umholtz said the number of prekindergarten through 12th-grade students at San Jon totaled 127, an increase of 13 from a year ago.

"That's very good news," he said. "Great things are happening at San Jon."

Umholtz said most of the increase occurred in the third- and fourth-grade classes.

The board's meeting coincided after the district's first day of school for the 2022-2023 school year.

"We got one in the books, and I'm looking forward to the others," the 62-year-old Umholtz said, who came out of retirement as a former superintendent at several school districts in Texas.

He was business manager at Clayton Municipal Schools before San Jon hired him to replace the previous superintendent Janet Gladu. She left in June after four years in San Jon to take a similar position in La Harpe, Illinois, because she said she wanted to be closer to her children and grandchildren.

Umholtz said before the first day of school, teaching staff went through three "excellent" days of training and was effusive about his personnel.

"You had a good staff before I came," he told the board.

Umholtz repeated what a staff member told him: "San Jon is like a private school, but you don't pay."

"I like being here. It's a good place," he added.

Umholtz said he took steps in recent days to spruce up the school's exterior, including mowing the football field. He said hiring another custodian helped in that effort, and so did recent rainfall. Board member Cynthia Lee complimented him on the look of the grounds.

Umholtz noted the district has about $400,000 in general-obligation bonds it must spend in 18 months, much of it for drainage improvements that also will improve the grounds.

In other business:

• The board approved on a trial basis a change in its regular meeting times from the second Monday to the third Monday of each month. The change occurred with the adoption of the Open Meetings Act for the 2022-2023 school year.

Umholtz recommended the change because the earlier dates for meetings made it more difficult to reconcile financial reports. He said some reports were as much as two months behind.

Board President Frank Gibson said he was willing to try the new meeting dates through the rest of this year, then revisit the issue in January.

• The board voted to impose admission fees to athletic events for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Administrative assistant Storm Sena said the district set up a donation system for athletic events during COVID-19 restrictions. She said donations proved erratic. Umholtz said the athletic department fund was "getting really low."

Umholtz said San Jon had the option of using an electronic admissions system recommended by the New Mexico Activities Association. Lee instead recommended a district employee with a cashbox admit spectators to games. With an electronic system, Lee said many elderly residents probably wouldn't come to games.

Admission fees will be $5 for adults and children in fifth grade and older. Children younger than fifth grade will be admitted free. San Jon also will offer season passes at a discounted rate.

• The board approved a lone bid of $1.93.8 a gallon from Tucumcari LP Gas as the district's propane supplier for the school year. Sena said Pinnacle Propane had been notified of the bid opportunity, but it declined to submit one.

• The board approved a small revision to the district's 2022-2023 school calendar. Umholtz said the previous calendar contained one more instruction day than allowed by the state. Removed was Feb. 24, a Friday.