The Artesia Public Schools Board of Education elected to appoint Cherie Widmayer to the District 3 board position vacated last month by longtime member Carolyn Shearman.
Widmayer will hold the position until 2019, when the seat will be open for election. The board received two letters of interest for the position, one from Widmayer and the other from Perry Conner. Widmayer will be sworn in prior to the board’s September meeting.
In other business Monday, Assistant Superintendent of Operations Thad Phipps sought the board’s approval to add the Mack Chase Athletic Complex to the existing fiber ring for the APS. The work will be completed through a CES contract by PVT Networks. The total cost for the project will be $70,238.43 from the HB33 account, and that request was approved.
Phipps also sought approval to purchase 13 refrigerators for the district’s various concession stands, to include Bulldog Bowl, Bulldog Pit, the soccer fields, the softball and baseball fields, and Morris Field in the amount of $41,486.73.
Phipps explained to the board these purchases would alleviate the district having to sign contracts with either of the major soft drink providers and limiting the variety of drinks they can provide to the public in any given year. Phipps says the booster clubs can provide drinks purchased at a wholesale price and boost their profit margins in the process. The funds will be taken from the HB33 account. The board approved the action.
Phipps also received approval to upgrade the network at both Grand Heights Early Childhood Center and Penasco School. The network upgrade will be purchased through a CES contract from CDW-G for $307,457.62 and will also be taken from the HB33 account.
In Phipps’ final request of the evening, the board approved the purchase of 20 Sharp Aquos Boards to replace outdated Aquos Boards throughout the district. The boards will be purchased through a CES contract from CDW-G. The total cost for the boards will be $96,420. The funds to pay for the boards will come from a private donor who has pledged $600,000 over the next three years for these expenses.
Assistant Superintendent of Instruction and Federal Programs Danny Parker reported to the board the results of the 2017 PARCC testing. He reported 55 percent of APS students scored in the 3-5 range in Algebra I, 47 percent in Algebra 2, 58 percent in geometry, 74 percent in English/Language Arts 9, 70 percent in ELA 10, and 74 percent in ELA 11.
Compared to the statewide averages of 44 percent in Algebra 1, 34 percent in Algebra 2, 49 percent in geometry, 55 percent in ELA 9, 54 percent in ELA 10, and 68 percent in ELA 11, local students are ahead of the curve.
APS Superintendent Dr. Crit Caton reported to the board the first day of school went very well, and enrollment figures will be available in the next few days. Caton also announced the resignation of Jessica Scoggin, DD preschool education assistant at Grand Heights, and the employment of Lino Bustamante, food truck driver; Charlie Campbell, in-school suspension/instruction assistant, Park Junior High; Krista Claflin, speech language pathologist, special education department; Randi Kirkpatrick, family and consumer science teacher, Artesia High School; Dora O. Sanchez, cafeteria cook/server, Zia Intermediate School; and Wandean Stock, Medicaid secretary, special education department.
Caton received the board’s approval to sell six sousaphones from the AHS band inventory to Eastern New Mexico University in Portales. The average appraisal price was $1,650 per instrument. Caton reported Artesia had purchased new instruments last year; the sousaphones were in storage, and ENMU expressed a need for them.
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the APS Board of Education will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 11, in the Lowell M. Irby Board Room at the APS Administration Building.
