Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
SAN JON — The San Jon Municipal Schools board on Wednesday approved a five-year facilities master plan and a resolution for a proposed $250,000 bond issue for the November election with the hope to receive a state grant up to $30 million to build a new school.
The plan and the additional debt were required for the district to receive the proposed grant from the New Mexico Public School Facilities Authority.
The general obligation bond issue would go to voters for the Nov. 7 election to fund district renovations or new buildings, computer software and matching funds for capital outlay projects.
Superintendent Alan Umholtz said after the meeting the state could award up to $30 million for the new school, but he anticipated it could be done for as little as $21 million.
Umholtz said the district would schedule a community forum in October to discuss the plan and detail the repair work required with current school facilities.
During a board meeting in December, the district’s bond adviser said state officials preferred San Jon building a new school instead of spending millions of dollars on repairs to its aging facilities. Many of San Jon’s buildings were built as early as the 1970s.
The new facility would be built on adjacent land, and the project would include refurbishing the football, baseball and softball fields but leave the current main gymnasium standing.
Anticipated construction time would be about 18 months, though the district could elect to do renovations or a hybrid of renovations and new construction.
The district in 2019 was issued a so-called “big grant” from the state of $2.8 million for various repairs and improvements to facilities.
But the district’s project manager said those funds wasn’t nearly enough “to fix what’s broke” with its buildings.
He said the cost to repair all the facility’s roofs would be about $8 million. Replacing its boiler system would be another $2.8 million.
Later during the meeting, Umholtz said the district recently spent about $25,000 to repair new roof leaks.
In other business:
— During public comments, Quay County manager Daniel Zamora said an inspector from the New Mexico Department of Transportation this week would inspect a 93-year-old bridge for structural soundness and reopen it to traffic if it passes muster and repairs are made.
Flash flooding in late May destroyed an adjacent new bridge that was days from completion. The contractor didn’t obtain builder’s insurance for the project, claiming the architect didn’t require it. Zamora said the county may file a lawsuit to resolve the situation so the bridge can be rebuilt.
Zamora said if the county qualifies for state or federal disaster relief, it would use those funds to reopen the old bridge.
He said state officials were committed to giving an answer on the old bridge quickly.
“San Jon is pretty important to us,” Zamora said.
Board President Frank Gibson said the closed bridge forces him to “go 30 miles to travel 200 feet.”
County commissioner Brian Fortner said he was “bombarded” with road-repair requests along school bus routes after San Jon began classes last week. He apologized for those problems and said county crews had been working overtime to fix flood-damaged roads.
— Principal Sharla Rusk reported that San Jon’s secondary students saw significant decreases in proficiency in mathematics and science in recent testing.
Proficiency in math dropped 27%, and science was down 8% during the 2022-2023 school year, compared to the previous year.
Rusk attributed the drop-off to learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ll have to work through it,” she said. “It is what is it is.”
Rusk said teachers will incorporate intervention time to help those students.
San Jon’s elementary students saw proficiency increases in math, English and science.
— The board accepted a low bid for the district’s propane from Farwell Fuels of Farwell, Texas.
Farwell Fuels offered propane at slightly more than $1 a gallon. The other bidder, Tucumcari LP Gas, bid $1.65 a gallon.
— The board changed the date of its next meeting from Sept. 13 to Sept. 6. Umholtz requested the change because he and business manager Stormi Sena would be in Albuquerque for state funding meetings.
— During public comments, Donald Adams asked the district improve its agriculture programs, including building a greenhouse so students could learn to grow their own vegetables. He said he would “chip in” with such an endeavor.
Umholtz mentioned later in the meeting the district had purchased a $92,000 plasma laser cutter for the ag program.
— Umholtz said the district’s enrollment this full had risen by nearly 10 and was hopeful the total could reach 150.
“I want to get our numbers and our programs up to what they used to be,” he said.
— Umholtz said two air conditioning units in the newer gymnasium recently broke down.
He said replacing them would cost $220,000 each — too much for the district’s finances for now. Instead, Umholtz said he would have their compressors replaced for a total of $22,000. He said he wanted the units working again before the first high school volleyball match on Aug. 19.
— The board for the second consecutive month tabled an executive session to discuss Umholtz’s salary, again because two board members were absent.