The Belen Consolidated Schools Board of Education tonight awarded a more than $280,000 bid for renovations to the Belen High School auditorium.

The bid was awarded to Fox Builders Inc.

The auditorium will get new lighting and an improved speaker system.

The renovation was initially expected to take place during the summer of 2009, with as much as $600,000 set aside for it at the time.

The City of Belen and Belen Consolidated Schools have begun collaborating with one another in a renewed relationship that could better both city and educational services.

The new partnership was formed after each government reached out to the other to begin finding areas where the city and district can work together.

So far, the city and district have joined forces on summer recreation, helping to keep local summer programs funded and available to youth.

The first collaboration involves the district’s swimming pool.

The city is expected to provide in-kind services to the district to keep the Belen High School swimming pool open this summer, pumping approximately 350,000 gallons of water into the pool free of charge.

Earlier this month, Dolores Quintana, a school board member, and Frank Ortega, the head of district maintenance, asked the city council for the water. At Monday’s council meeting, the city council will consider the in-kind contribution.

Both the city and district agree that this is the first of many collaborations.

The Belen Consolidated Schools Board of Education tonight unanimously approved a new lease agreement that will allow the district’s Family School to remain in Rio Communities for the 2010-2011 school year.

The lease is for $625 a month, which Superintendent Patricia Rael described as “greatly reduced” from more than $2,800 a month this school year.

The district is essentially using the Valley Community Plaza space rent-free, but is covering the cost of utilities, insurance and taxes.

The district had considered moving the Family School to Becker Avenue in Belen.

Belen Consolidated Schools has scrapped a plan to move its Family School to Becker Avenue, what had been a cost-saving proposal because of the district’s tight budget.

The announcement was made during last night’s school board meeting, followed by excited applause from parents of Family School students.

Instead, the district has negotiated a new lease that will keep the school in Valley Community Plaza in Rio Communities. The district rents the space from the Valley Improvement Association.

The lease is for one year and covers the 2010-2011 school year.

According to Board Member Sammy Chavez, the district has every intention of moving the Family School back into a district-owned facility for the following school year.

The district had considered moving the school into the Infinity High School portable classrooms on Becker Avenue because the alternative high school will have new facilities just two blocks south of their present location for the 2010-2011 school year.

After news of the proposed move came to light, Board President Jamie Goldberg formed a subcommittee to work with district staff and parents to address concerns about moving the school, ultimately determining to keep the school at Valley Community Plaza for one more school year.

Parents of elementary school students in Los Lunas are overwhelmingly opposed to changing the start and end times for the school day, according to the results of a survey released by Los Lunas Schools this week.

Under a high school reform initiative, the Los Lunas Schools Board of Education has proposed changing the start time for the elementary school day from approximately 8:30am to 7:40am. The school day would end at approximately 2:30pm instead of 3:30pm.

The change would accommodate a later start time for high school students, so the district can provide intervention and remediation sessions to students in what’s being called “zero hour,” prior to the start of the regular school day at Los Lunas and Valencia high schools.

According to the results of the parent survey, 1,172 parents are opposed to the schedule change, while 496 like the change. That’s 70 percent of parents opposed to the change.

Board Member Frank Otero said at Tuesday’s board meeting that the survey results reflect what he’s heard when talking to parents — parents don’t want a new start and end time.

Members of the Belen Consolidated Schools Board of Education, having recently attended a board institute in Santa Fe for mandatory training, said they were surprised with how much uncertainty there is about the state’s budget and its possible effect on local education.

During the training, the board members heard from officials with the New Mexico Public Education Department, legislators and even Gov. Bill Richardson.

“They couldn’t give any substance because they truly didn’t know what the budget situation was, and you could see them skirt all the issues,” said Belen Board President Jamie Goldberg.

In the past the board members have been able to talk with officials and legislators about specific projects and district growth, but this year the conversations were more about the need for patience as legislators and other state officials work through budget issues. Goldberg called the conversations “somber.”

The legislative session ended last week without a solution to the budget deficit, which means legislators will convene in a special session next week to continue to work on the issue.

The Belen and Los Lunas districts already had to manage budget cuts as the state tries to find money wherever it can. While legislators in general say they support education, it’s unclear if education can be spared cuts during the special session.

“This board has taken a strong position, when talking to our legislators, in not having or taking any cuts at all in education. We understand the situation. We understand the condition of the state, but we just don’t want them to cut education,” said Belen Board Member Julian Luna.

While Belen Consolidated Schools has a stable budget situation, even after the cuts, Los Lunas Schools has been reeling, proposing major changes to its school day to save money by cutting back on staff and faculty, coupling the changes with high school reform proposals.

With the districts each employing more people than any other entity in Valencia County, the number one priority for them has been protecting jobs. Los Lunas Schools has chosen not to fire anyone, but isn’t filling some vacant positions.

“Like any business, you want to protect your employees. That’s what we’re going to be doing,” Luna said.

Both districts rehired their superintendents this week, with neither getting a raise.

Superintendent Patricia Rael and Belen’s board members mutually decided not to raise her salary.

“There’s no pay raise for a second year for Dr. Rael. The employees didn’t get one last year, so she didn’t as well — and again this year,” Goldberg said.

Superintendent Bernard Saiz was offered a raise by the Los Lunas board, but he chose not to accept it because of that district’s budget situation.

Belen Consolidated Schools has shown substantial success in reducing its truancy rates, according to a three-year report released yesterday by the district.

“I am pleased to report, after reviewing three years of data, that initiatives and interventions recommended by the truancy committee have come to fruition, and the ultimate goal of reducing truancy and habitual truancy to improve academic achievement has been realized,” said Richard R. Romero, a district student support programs liaison.

The report says the total number of days students are absent has declined by more than 5,000, or nearly 29 percent.

The district has 280 fewer truant students (between five and nine unexcused absences), which translates to 43 percent fewer truant students. The district also has 178 fewer habitually truant students (10 or more unexcused absences).

“There was a 70 percent reduction in habitually truant students. That’s a huge number,” Romero said.

Among total absentees, the district has reduced the number of unexcused absentee days by more than 6,000, a nearly 65-percent drop.

The biggest declines in unexcused absences, truancy and habitual truancy were at H.T. Jaramillo Community School.

Board Member Julian Luna said the measures don’t just reduce truancy but also reduce drop-out rates.

Board President Jamie Goldberg said higher school attendance not only makes kids more productive members of society but also increases the amount of funding the district receives.

The district has been aggressively targeted truancy since 2006, with a committee implementing anti-truancy measures. Three employees devote their time to getting children to attend school.

The primary approach of the district’s anti-truancy program is follow-up — contacting the families of truant students to find out the circumstances keeping the student from school.

“We get a hold of parents, find out why their kids aren’t in school and get them there,” Romero said.

One tactic is having the truancy officers visit the homes of students who haven’t been attending school.

“We’re going into these homes, going into their environments, to see what kind of environment they have, including the family,” said Board Member Dolores Quintana.

Another more aggressive tactic involves sending school resource officers to the homes of Belen Middle School students to “get kids out of bed and take them to school.”

Quintana said the measures also involve giving students reasons why they should attend school. The district is trying to instill work ethic in students.

Despite the reductions, Romero said the district still has a lot of work to do.

“Although there have been significant improvements, truancy and habitual truancy remain a serious barrier to learning for many of our children,” he said.

The Belen Consolidated Schools Board of Education formed an alternative schools facilities management subcommittee last night to help transition alternative high school students into their new school building next year.

The subcommittee will also discuss moving the district’s Family School to a new location.

Construction continues on the new Infinity High School near Belen Middle School. If all goes according to plan, the district will move Infinity High School students to the new location prior to the start of next school year.

That move will free up the current Infinity High School, which consists of two portable classrooms on Becker Avenue.

The district wants to move the Family School, which provides part-time classes for homeschooled children, to the Becker Avenue site. The Family School is currently operated out of leased space at Valley Community Plaza in Rio Communities.

Board President Jamie Goldberg said the subcommittee is necessary to plan for the moves, so the district can be proactive in planning the moves and addressing concerns.

“We want to make sure everything’s in place,” he said, adding, “We want to make sure everyone knows what’s going on ahead of time.”

He said the subcommittee will be composed of board members, district staff, alternative school staff and parents. He acknowledged some parents of Family School students have concerns about the move to Becker Avenue.

“We want to keep them happy — and make sure it’s safe,” he said.

Three members of the Belen Consolidated Schools Board of Education tonight nearly defeated a policy that might deny some students a hot lunch.

The board members — Julian Luna, Jamie Goldberg and Sammy Chavez — quickly expressed opposition to the proposed policy, which in three paragraphs says students who have charged five meals and haven’t repaid the cost can be “denied meal service due to excessive charges.”

Instead of a standard hot lunch, the nonpaying students “will be given a substitute meal (to be determined at that time),” according to the policy.

“I would really hate to set up a policy in regards to this, especially in these trying times. A lot of families that may not have at one time qualified for a free meal, the dad may have lost his job, been laid off or furloughed by the state, and may just not have enough money at this particular time,” Luna said. “I’m not in favor of this policy.”

The policy doesn’t say the students would get cheese sandwiches as the alternative meal, but Chavez compared the policy to when Albuquerque Public Schools was serving cheese sandwiches to its nonpaying students. Chavez doesn’t see nonpaying students as a serious problem in the district.

“When it happens, and it does happen on an infrequent basis, I think we need to have some compassion and some ability to allow these students to have a meal without being singled out,” he said.

Superintendent Patricia Rael said the district doesn’t have a lot of nonpaying students, but she said some students are habitual.

Board Member Adrian Pino, who, along with Board Member Dolores Quintana, brought the policy to the board, said they did so to deal with “the ones that take advantage of the system.” Quintana said the policy is meant to target students who can pay for their lunch but don’t.

“We wanted to make sure that those who could afford to pay should pay,” she said.

Goldberg said he doesn’t want to deny some students meals when others who can afford to pay get free and reduced-price lunches simply because they go to a school where free and reduced-price lunches are universal.

“There’s no way I’ll approve this. It won’t have my vote. It’s not going to happen,” he said.

The board approved the first reading of the policy. The three board members in opposition could have voted down the first reading, effectively killing the proposal, a thought that crossed Goldberg’s mind.

With the approval of the first reading, the board will take up the policy for a second reading at its next meeting. The policy could then be approved at the following meeting, which is unlikely given the early opposition.

“It’s just such a trying time right now that it’s not a good time to pass a policy like this,” Luna said.

Belen Consolidated Schools is planning to move its Family School to the site of Infinity High School on Becker Avenue in Belen for the 2010-11 school year.

The school was moved at the beginning of the current school year from Eastside School on River Road, after Eastside School was deemed unsafe, condemned and shut down.

Since then, the Family School, which provides part-time classes for homeschooled children, has been located in Valley Community Plaza in Rio Communities at a cost of $2,800 a month plus utilities.

“In tight budget times, and knowing we’re not going to get more money but even less, we’re likely to move it,” said Superintendent Patricia Rael.

Right now, Infinity High School, the district’s alternative high school, is located on Becker Avenue within two portable classrooms set up for that purpose. The district is building a new alternative high school just two blocks south that’s expected to open in the fall.

If everything stays on track, Rael expects Infinity High School students to be in their new building and Family School students to take over the former alternative high school site.

“We haven’t moved Infinity High School students out yet. Could we get backlogged on that? I don’t know,” she said. “It looks like construction is going to end on time.”

Rael said the old alternative high school site will need some adjustments and improvements to create a learning environment for younger students.

“We’ve got big kids there now. We’ll have to change it for little kids,” she said.