Members of the Roswell Independent School District Board held a long and busy meeting Tuesday night to wrap up 2022.
RISD students and staff begin their two-week winter break once the fall semester ends on Friday. Classes resume on Tuesday 3 January after a professional development day on Monday at the start of the spring semester. RISD suppt. Brian Luck starts the new year with a new professional contract.
The board members met in an executive session before returning to unanimously approve the new agreement, which came into effect immediately after the board vote and will expire on December 30, 2025. “I appreciate the opportunity to continue what I started,” said Luck after receiving warm congratulations from the board members at the end of the session.
Luck was the principal of Goddard High School when he was appointed superintendent in May 2021. His new contract offers him a $7,000 per year raise, bringing his annual salary to $157,000.
Among the tasks Luck completed is an update on the district’s strategic plan that was presented at the meeting. It required more than a year of writing, reviewing and rewriting before being shown to groups of staff, residents and eventually board members before reaching its final form.
The plan contains a new mission statement and seven goals. Each goal includes how it can be achieved and relevant data. The strategic plan is available in the December Board Meeting Package on the RISD website at risd.k12.nm.us.
Board members approved all three cannabis policies that the school’s medical staff should follow when prescribing cannabis for a student for a physical or mental health condition. These guidelines were introduced in October. These new district guidelines will be overseen by school district officials across the state because RISD, which creates such guidelines, puts it ahead of the curve, Luck said. For example, RISD collaborators have found that Rio Rancho public schools implemented a medicinal cannabis program in 2019. The New Mexico Department of Education does not review individual district medical cannabis policies, but such policies must comply with state administrative law.
The New Mexico Administrative Code Title 6, Ch. 12, part 10 focuses on medicinal cannabis and provides rules for the “possession, storage and administration of medicinal cannabis to qualified students for use in educational settings.”
RISD’s guidelines include what parents, caregivers, and the schools would do to ensure students who have been prescribed cannabis receive it, but in a way that does not allow other students potential access to the THC or CBD drugs , which would only be allowed on campus, in the form of extract, concentrate or unrefrigerated capsule.
Board members also approved a nepotism policy that would prevent employees from making key professional decisions regarding close family members. These range from work schedules to remuneration and evaluation of work performance.
Mountain View Middle School’s computer science program has received $10,000 to allow students continued access to this training. Mountain View was just one of two winners in New Mexico. Instructor Chris Carrillo also received a free bursary to attend a professional training program. Both awards come from the nonprofit education group Code.org, which strives to increase the participation of young women and other underrepresented groups of K-12 students in computer science.
The Board was able to review four preliminary versions of the RISD calendar for 2023-24. Board members could consider updated versions as early as January once some details are finalized by state officials, Luck said.
Board members approved a motion by the Roswell Education Association (REA) that the district support a call for state legislatures to adequately fund school districts in New Mexico. This would allow RISD to fund 80% of health insurance costs for all RISD employees.
A letter to the board of directors from REA President Denise Dawson notes that other New Mexico public employees receive employer contributions at this rate. RISD employees earning at least $25,000 per year only receive a 60% employer contribution.
Being able to provide these employees with full premiums would save more than $2,000 per year for employees with individual insurance and approximately $5,200 per year for those with family insurance.
