By Becky Brewster
After a short executive session, the Culberson County-Allamoore Independent School District Board of Trustees voted to deny the claim of discrimination and retaliation filed by CCAISD’s Chief Financial Officer Julie Uranga. The claim was brought against the District based on CCAISD’s investigation of the complaint and advice of legal counsel. The Board further voted to update Board Policy DCB (Local) to remove the Section which states
“Educator term contracts shall also be provided for the following positions for which neither SBEC [State Board for Educator Certification] nor the District requires current SBEC certification: chief financial officer/business manager.”
This provision was added to the District’s policy under a prior administration. Typically, this policy only offers term contracts to employees in positions for which the District requires current SBEC certification. The CFO position does not require SBEC certification and is usually an “at-will” position.
The Board also met with HB Construction (HBC) and Parkhill, Smith and Cooper (PSC) to approve an amendment to the Construction Manager At-Risk Contract. The Trustees approved Construction Package No. II for earthwork, site utilities and structural steel for a total cost of $2,955,594 which was some $6400 under budget. Supt. Dalia Benavidez stated that this is “the next part to move the project along.” Package No. I for site demolition is nearing completion, and bids for Package No. III will be due July 25. Trustees requested that PSC provide them with written progress reports as the project moves forward.
The Board then approved Code Solutions, Inc. as CCAISD’s Code Plan reviewer and inspector for the K-12 Campus Construction. Since the Town of Van Horn does not have a building inspector on staff, the District has chosen to bring in a third party inspector to make sure the construction is being completed in accordance with applicable building codes. Hector de Santiago of PSC reviewed the qualifications of Code Solutions noting that they can do all phases of the project except the fire plan review and inspections. Code Solutions will now provide the District with a proposal outlining their actual services and costs.
Trustees also approved 2017-2018 Finance Services from Region 18 at a cost of $45,085 which was a slight increase over last fiscal year. Region 18 will provide financial services such as cash receipts, accounts payable, payroll, bank reconciliations, etc.
In other business, the CCAISD Board members:
• Authorized the District to seek bids for fuel for 2017-2018.
• Tabled Budget amendments.
• Renewed the Student Accident Insurance Policy for 2017-2018.
• Approved the Stipends and Employee Compensation schedules for 2017-2018.
• Approved the USI Property, Casualty and Workers Comp Insurance for 2017-2018.
The Superintendent search timeline by Executive Search Services has the District at the follow-up interviews stage with the second round of interviews scheduled for next week. The Lone Finalist could be named as early as July 27 according to Supt. Dalia Benavidez.
