San Jon OKs grant master plan

SAN JON — The San Jon Municipal Schools board approved a five-year facilities master plan — a key step for the district to obtain state funding for a new school that’s now estimated to cost nearly $40 million.

Ian Harmon of Northstar NM, the district’s project manager, told the board during its meeting Wednesday he estimated an architect for the new school should be selected by May, with construction to begin in 2025 and the new building being finished by late 2026.

Harmon, who gave a PowerPoint presentation about the school project so far, initially was hired a few years ago to oversee school repairs with a $2.3 million state grant.

He said he quickly determined the district’s repairs would cost far more than the so-called “big grant.” All roof repairs would cost $3.6 million, and installation of a HVAC system in buildings to replace a deteriorating boiler system would have cost $5.9 million.

In all, Harmon said all repairs to district buildings would have cost $11.6 million.

That set into motion where Harmon and the New Mexico Public Schools Facilities Authority began considering a new school for San Jon.

“PSFA and myself saw a much, much greater need for this district,” he said.

The new school would be about 37,000 square feet. The district’s current buildings, built piecemeal over the decades, contain 81,000 square feet.

Harmon said district buildings have just a 57% utilization rate, hence a smaller school being proposed. The new school would accommodate a total of up to 150 students. Current enrollment is about 113, but superintendent Alan Umholtz has said he wants to increase that to 150.

To qualify for a grant from PSFA to pay for a new school, the district must exhaust its funding capacity. Voters approved a $250,000 bond issue last month that brought the district’s debt to a little more than the maximum of 10 mills.

Harmon anticipated the PSFA board would approve the district’s application for funding a new school at its next meeting on Jan. 15. Some funds could be acquired as soon as March.

Harmon said the $39.9 million price tag for a new San Jon school was an estimate. He conceded it could be less than that, or it could surge past the $40 million mark. The funds would include $84,000 for immediately needed roof repairs.

The board approved the facilities master plan with little discussion, though Dale Bone expressed exasperation that officials didn’t detect corrosion and blockages in the boiler system’s pipes years earlier. He compared it to a car receiving a new motor but having the same bad transmission.

In a follow-up phone interview, Umholtz voiced irritation with the state government, noting previous estimates earlier this year for a new San Jon school of between $22 million and $30 million. He attributed the nearly $40 million figure because the state anticipates a five-year process to build and finish the school.

Umholtz wants the school built faster. In his previous experience at school districts in Texas, he said a new school was built in two years.

“I’ve told them our building cannot last for two more years or even three with the roofs,” he said.

He said state officials have told him it would take 18 months for an architect to design a new school. Umholtz said it should take no more than 90 days.

Umholtz also said the Mosquero school district is building a school at a cost of $900 per square foot. He said he thinks it could cost $600 or less per square foot at San Jon due to its proximity to Interstate 40.

In other business:

— Umholtz spoke briefly about the Public Education Department’s proposal to expand instruction hours throughout the state. It would require many rural districts to go to a five-day-a-week schedule. (See other story in this edition.)

— Principal Sharla Rusk talked about San Jon’s latest performance metrics as listed on the PED’s New Mexico Vistas website.

She said the elementary school received a Spotlight designation, the second-highest, due to a 20% increase in proficiency. The middle school received a Traditional designation, a third-best best rating that was the same as last year.

Rusk said the high school received a Comprehensive Support School, or CSI, rating that was second from the bottom. She said she was uncertain why the high school received such a low grade, though she guessed it might have been due to low SAT scores last year.

Umholtz, noting the high school’s Vistas score of 46 was just two points lower than the middle school’s, said he would appeal the high school’s rating.

— Rusk also gave a report on ongoing remedial instruction for math and reading for students through eighth grade.

She said pupils were advancing “but not as much as we’d like.” Board President Frank Gibson told Rusk she should “take the win,” indicating that some student progress was better than none.

— Bobby Kandel, who has taken over supervision of food services, said he’s switched the district to Labatt Food Service, which also serves the Grady and Tucumcari districts. He said food often is 20% to 50% cheaper — mostly because it is ordered through Cooperative Education Services.

— Kandel, also the athletic director, said he was soliciting logo designs for the athletic teams through Christmas. He said the winning design will be a draft for a final digital product reviewed by a committee.

— Kandel said he was updating the school’s record board for track and field and was soliciting data from alums. Some of the school-record distances or times date to the mid-1970s.

Kandel said he also was planning a Wall of Fame mural to honor alums in the Ed Lee Gymnasium.

— Gibson presented outgoing school board member Brian Watson a gift and a handshake in appreciation for his tenure. Watson lost his re-election bid in November.