Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
SAN JON — A usually routine approval of an Open Meetings Act resolution resulted in a change in the dates of future meetings of the San Jon Municipal Schools board.
Board member Cynthia Lee during the board’s June 12 meeting suggested changing the date of its meetings for the 2023-2024 fiscal year from the second Monday of each month to the second Wednesday of each month.
Lee said she suggested the change “for those who want to be more active” on the board but find it difficult to do so because of their work schedules.
None of the other board members at the meeting — Frank Gibson, Dale Bone and Brian Watson — objected to the change.
Superintendent Alan Umholtz said on behalf of board member Jeremy Wade Allen that he “definitely” would support the change.
Allen often has attended meetings by videoconference due to work conflicts and briefly logged off from his feed during last week’s meeting during discussion of that item.
In other business:
— The board approved removing Bryan Runyan of K12 Accounting LLC of Albuquerque as a signatory for the district’s Citizens Bank accounts, adding the new administrative assistant, Miranda Chavez, and adding Umholtz as an authorized user of its internet banking accounts.
The district earlier this year declined to renew its $115,455-a-year contract with K12 in the coming fiscal year. Umholtz said hiring a business manager in-house would save an estimated $40,000.
Stormi Sena, who was the district’s administrative assistant, was hired as the business manager.
K12’s Gowan Hays, who attended the meeting by videoconference, give the firm’s final monthly financial report and said he would go to San Jon later this month to give Sena the log-in information for the district’s financial accounts.
— Sharla Rusk, who will become San Jon’s principal this fall, detailed the combining of the student handbook for the elementary, middle and high schools.
She said it contained few changes. One of them was matching post-pandemic attendance rules to state law. A student cannot have more than 10 unexcused absences.
— During his superintendent’s report, Umholtz said the district is fully staffed except for a few substitute teacher and bus driver positions. He also said the state approved the district’s preliminary budget and its 2023-2024 calendar.
— In some housekeeping for the coming school year, the board approved applications to the IDEA-B Basic Entitlement and Pre-school Entitlement sub-grant, Fine Arts Education Act funds and for Title I, II and IV funding.