Saturday's Internet Edition, May 17, 2008.
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| Welcomed to Van Horn.... Dr. Guillermo Mancha, his wife Rachel, and their two children, Lucinda and Guillermo, III were welcomed to Van Horn last Wednesday evening. The school district held the informal gathering of teachers and locals to welcome them to Van Horn. And, those who attended found out a lot about the Mancha’s and their goals and dreams for Van Horn. |
- Trustees of Culberson County-Allamoore Independent School District met last Thursday evening and learned from the campus administrators that the recent Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) testing in reading shows that “we’ve improved.”
New Superintendent, Dr. Guillermo Mancha, told trustees that the campus results “reflect the increased emphasis that we’ve placed on getting ready for the TAKS testing.”
All three campus administrators reported that the percentages of students passing the reading TAKS were higher than last year. And, that’s good news as the district prepares for the next round of TAKS testing, currently scheduled for next week.
Dr. Mancha then proceeded to explain to trustees the logic behind a difficult decision that has to be made regarding district staffers.
He told trustees that the district is confronted with a double hit in that we are experiencing declining enrollment and that translates into declining funding from the Texas Education Agency (TEA).
As a result, Mancha continued, the district is going to have to take a very hard look at staffers. “Under the Texas FIRST system, given our current projected numbers of students for next year, our teaching staff will have to be whittled down from 61 currently to 49,” noted Mancha.
He continued, “That means that we will have to reduce our teaching staff by 12.” And, he went on to say, “According to the existing district policy, we have a reduction in force procedure which we’ll follow, if the reductions needed are not taken care of by teachers leaving the district anyway.”
According to the policy, already in place, Mancha said, “We’ll look at staff in the following areas and priorities: Certifications, Performance, Seniority, and Professional Background.”
Dr. Mancha concluded by saying, “We don’t want to make teachers cuts but when faced with declining enrollment numbers and thereby declining funding, we have little alternative.”
And, following an hour and a half behind closed doors executive session, trustees heard Dr. Mancha report that he would proceed with the process and keep trustees appraised of the situation.
With regard to other agenda items considered, trustees took the following actions during the meeting:
* Learned that the outside audit report for the fiscal year ending August 31, 2008 was not complete yet. It is hoped that it will be completed by the April meeting.
* Trustees approved the presented budget amendments and decided to continue with plans to sell the surplus property of the district.
* Upon the recommendation of Dr. Mancha, trustees approved putting the District Policy Manual online through the Texas Association of School Boards Online Policy Services. According to Mancha, it will cost the district some $1,700 in startup costs, and annual fee of $800 to keep the policy updated an online.
Democratic Party Primary run-off is set for next Tuesday
Yolanda Urias, local Democratic Party Chairman has informed the Advocate that the Democratic Party Primary Election Run-Off will be held next Tuesday, April 8th.
Early voting in the run-off election ends tomorrow.
According to Urias, the only run-off race on the local ballot is for Texas Railroad Commissioner.
Urias reports that polling places will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. here. She also reports that all polling places remain the same except for Precinct 3-3 (at Guadalupe Mountains). That precinct has been combined with Precinct 3-5 and will cast their ballots at the School Administration Building.