by Jaye Sudar
WALSENBURG- During a special board meeting Tueday evening, the RE-1 board declared a vacancy in District B, formerly held by Bill Downey. No one is running for election in that district, which leaves RE-1 in a tight spot. If no one steps forth to fill the vacancy, someone will be appointed. Interested parties should contact the district office.
The Gardner School Foundation is sponsoring a 7th & 8th grade field trip to Mesa Verde which the board approved. William Polniak was hired as a long term substitute for the district and will be teaching math at John Mall. A substitute cook was added to the list and the old football scoreboard was declared surplus. A price of no less than $500 was suggested for anyone interested in purchasing the scoreboard. Yulanda Valerio volunteered to be the BOCES representative for the board.
The second half of the meeting was a board workshop. Re-1 superintendent Michael Doyle reported that the full day Kindergarten is proving a success at Peakview. Teachers appreciate the extra time to work on vital lessons.
The sports complex is still under construction with the concession stand and locker rooms still to be finished. Doyle is considering asking the community for donations due to financial shortfalls.
Lisa Brgoch and Donna Millis reported on the Gifted and Talented program issues in the district. Testing has been done for most of the district, and now evaluations and Advanced Learning Plans (ALP′s) will be done by December to keep the district in compliance. The board expressed concern that there had not been more accomplished since the state mandated the program in 2006. Issues regarding funding and co-operation with BOCES were brought up by Brgoch and Millis. The board said that the program will be discussed at further meetings.
The Daycare Center has made two offers for the Tioga building and old football field. The board stated that they would like at least $80,000 for both and would look forward to solid offers at the next meeting.
Bill Downey mentioned that the board should send condolences to the family of Jonathan Aguirre, who lost his life last week. The board was in agreement.
