Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
SAN JON — The superintendent for San Jon Municipal Schools received a one-year extension on his contract and a state-mandated 6% pay raise from the district’s board Wednesday.
Alan Umholtz’s annual pay will rise to about $123,000 a year. Receiving a two-year deal upon his initial hiring last year, his contact now will expire in June 2025 with the extension.
The board’s action followed a 40-minute closed executive session. Umholtz’s contact was on the agenda for two previous meetings, but action was delayed because of the absence of board members at the time.
The board hired Umholtz in August 2022 after the previous superintendent, Janet Gladu, departed after four years for a similar position in Illinois.
Umholtz previously was Clayton Municipal Schools’ business manager and held decades of administrative experience at school districts in Texas.
“I’m enjoying it here,” Umholtz said after the meeting. “In my 39 years (in school districts), this is the best start we’ve ever had.”
Umholtz also said his goal is to eventually boost San Jon’s total enrollment to 150 students. He said the district’s enrollment is about 138 now, up about 25 from last year.
He also noted during Wednesday’s meeting that total enrollment in the secondary grades outnumber the elementary’s for the first time in the district’s history.
One way Umholtz said he would entice more students to San Jon was additional sports offerings. San Jon added softball last spring, cross country this fall, and he anticipated fielding a golf team in the spring.
In other business:
— Umholtz said a facility management team was putting together a packet of documents to show the district’s infrastructure needs before a November bond vote.
State officials have offered to award the district a grant of about $22 million to build a new school if voters approve a $250,000 bond issue later this fall. The new school would be built on adjacent land owned by the district.
Building roofs often leak during rainfall, and the district’s boiler system needs an upgrade. Repairs on both would cost well over $10 million.
Umholtz said “this is a rare opportunity” to receive $22 million for a new building for just $250,000 in additional debt.
— Principal Sharla Rusk detailed the district’s intervention plan to improve proficiency among students.
She said in 2 1/2 weeks of using the DreamBox program this fall, students already had shown learning growth.
“It’s exciting to see that growth in that short of time,” she said.
Rusk expressed optimism the intervention would continue to work well, noting other districts that used the program showed advancement of as much as two grade levels in one year.
During the board’s previous meeting, Rusk said San Jon’s secondary students saw significant decreases in math and science proficiency during testing last year. She attributed the drop to learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic.
— The board approved a technology plan for the district through 2026 that would help the district land state funding.
Umholtz said he searched for a week for the district’s previous technology plan but could not find it, surmising it probably was misplaced. He said the state’s Public Education Department could not find it, either.
— In public comments, Jessica Gonzales voiced complaints from her daughter Emma, a recent graduate, about the district’s agriculture teacher and FFA adviser.
Gonzales didn’t mention the teacher by name, but a district official confirmed after the meeting it was Renee Sallee, who is the ag teacher and FFA adviser during this school year and served in the same role last year.
Emma said the teacher “left her out of the loop” on activities and discouraged her from participation, including attending the FFA Convention. Gonzales also alleged snide and dispiriting comments.
She said the local chapters of Altrusa International and Rotary asked for applicants from San Jon for their respective scholarship programs, to no response.
Gonzales said Emma didn’t want to report the teacher’s conduct, fearing retaliation. Gonzales said her daughter is attending New Mexico State University.
“She hopes to become the ag teacher she never had,” she said.
Board President Frank Gibson didn’t directly comment on Gonzales’ remarks but asked her to leave a copy of her prepared statement to the board.
An email to Sallee requesting comment was not answered.