A public outdoor recreation area is being proposed for the area west of Las Animas High School.

    It would include two quarter-mile walking loops, tennis courts, exercise areas, a picnic area and a grass field suitable for football or soccer games.

    The preliminary estimated cost is $1.3 million, school Superintendent Scott Cuckow told school board members last week at the regular monthly meeting.

    “But the work could be done in phases,” Cuckow said.

    He said Las Animas Public Works Director Ken Wagner is urging that the school, city and county first apply for a state planning grant that would create an overall coordinated approach for grant applications.

    Other projects will be competing for funding from the state, including the bathhouse renovation at the city pool and the need for a larger, more modern community center.

    The geothermal project at the high school and middle school is making progress and the contractor planning for an Aug. 1 completion of the project. Any delays should not extend the completion beyond Aug. 8, which is well before the opening of school.

    Cuckow said there is a plan underway for Kountry Kids to focus pre-school development for three year olds in its care, while Jump Start will focus on four year olds. This will provide a coordinated transition into kindergarten for the children, he explained. This would be funded by grants from the Colorado Department of Education.

    Cuckow has now been directing the school for a few years and it was noted earlier in the year that the school board had never established clear guidelines for evaluating him.

    In response to that issue, Cuckow told board members he had come up with some areas that could be incorporated into goals.

    “I do not know whether to call these district goals or superintendent goals, they are all the same,” Cuckow noted.

    Items that should be considered for the goals include communication, technology, curriculum, instruction, facilities, budget, human resources, achievement measurements, internal and external perceptions of the schools, employee evaluation and effectively teaching “21st century skills.” Then Cuckow added other topics for consideration, including action statements, strategies, performance indicators and timelines.

    Cuckow said one goal might be to redesign the high school operation to “be more effective at producing students who are prepared for college.”

    “Do we want to have a workshop?” Cuckow asked.

    In response, school board President Kim MacDonnell said she would like to see some goals set and some of them should be tied in with the graduation requirements review that is also currently underway. A list of statements that a recent town meeting came up with regarding graduation standards and the role of the school were passed out to the board members earlier in the meeting for them to study and evaluate.

    Board member Jace Ratzlaff said he would open to a special meeting to discuss goals and also review the four-day school week.

    Ratzlaff then asked Cuckow to provide a list of what he thinks the goals should be. That would be speed up the process, he suggested.

    Cuckow then showed some highly detailed products, such as a wall plaque detailing the Mayan calendar that he said were made by Boys Ranch students using the new $20,000 engraving machine in the Las Animas industrial arts department.

    The meeting began with two students, Brittany Fritz and Savanna Grasmick reporting on their recent attendance at a summer math camp on the University of Northern Colorado campus. Teacher Lana Gardner accompanied them on the trip.

    Brittany is the daughter of Gary and Rita Fritz and Savanna is the daughter of Doug and Christy Grasmick.

    Brittany told how the students learned a new process using a “math clock.” The face of the clock was used to show mathematical relationships.

    Savanna said she had learned some of the secrets used for the Navajo code in World War II.

    The two Las Animas girls were among only 30 students invited for the weeklong math camp.

    In the new business section of the meeting, Cuckow announced that Clarice Ratzlaff had resigned from the high school, where she taught business classes.  She reportedly has accepted a federal job with the U. S. Department of Agriculture.

    Jace Ratzlaff, her husband, abstained from voting on the resignation. He told board members it had been a difficult decision for Clarice but it was best for the family (Jace is the local representative for Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R – Colo., who is facing a very tough election campaign this year.)

    Cuckow said that Clarice would be missed. He praised her performance in the classroom and said she was an excellent role model for the female students.
Cuckow said that Addie Wallace would move from middle school math and science to replace Mrs. Ratzlaff at the high school.

    To replace Addie Wallace, the board approved hiring Susan Coulter for the middle school. She has taught at the school before and Cuckow said she did an excellent job.

    Cuckow said the schools still need more substitute teachers. A list the board ratified during the meeting “was not enough,” the superintendent said. He urged the board to suggest additional substitutes, especially ones who are certified.

    Approved as substitutes for the coming year were:

    Certified — Betty Grasmick, Phyllis Sinclair, Clarabeth Wadhams, Glen Brown, Galan Burnett, Norma Cox, Bill Deal, Katie Decker, Linda DeLong, George Eidinger, Christy Grasmick, Bill Jackson, Mimi Marmon, Pate Wake and Sandra Waldroupe.

    Classified — Rita Gabehart, Cindy Rodriquez and Julie Thomas.

    Tammy Plane was formally approved as the middle school cheerleading coach.

    The following coaches were approved:
    Mike Kester, high school golf coach; Addie Wallace, high school volleyball coach; Connie Schleich, high school assistant volleyball coach; Brock Hinkhouse, high school assistant football coach; Rebecca Hasser, middle school volleyball coach; Carl Lindauer and Tim Provost, middle school football coaches.

    The next school board meeting will be held Tuesday, Aug. 19, at 5:30 p.m., in the boardroom of the middle school commons area. There will be a retirement party for Frank Frausto a half hour before the meeting.