Delays At Sweeney School

Construction Cited To Board Members

Santa Fe Public Schools’ interim superintendent had little to report during a special meeting of the school board on Monday. But how much can be said after just one day on the job?

Tom Sullivan, a former executive director of the New Mexico Coalition of School Administrators who was hired as interim superintendent last week, did tell the board that Sweeney Elementary School will not be fully open in time for the upcoming school year.

Due to construction on site, Sullivan said the elementary school on Santa Fe’s south side will not be able to accommodate some students when it opens next month, and may not be at full capacity until after Thanksgiving.

Board members were concerned about the delay and asked the interim superintendent several questions — some of which he couldn’t answer.

Board member Steven Carrillo wanted to know if the contractor was subject to penalties for not finishing the work on time.

“It’s one thing to be two or three weeks late, and another to be three months late,” he said.

Board member Glenn Wikle wondered what kind of disruption the construction would cause, shifting students, teachers and other school personnel to temporary sites.

“I can see how it could put stress on the school in a lot of different ways,” he said.

Sullivan said he didn’t know if the delays may have been caused by change orders requested by the district but would find out more by the board’s next regular meeting on July 17. He said that in talking to administrators at the school he got the sense that there was a good deal of collaboration between the school and the contractor.

Sullivan did have answers to a few questions. He said school buses would be routed to Sweeney before going on to the temporary sites, and that it was likely students in second grade and lower would be the ones transported elsewhere.

Sullivan, who is filling in until the new superintendent, Joel Boyd, currently assistant superintendent with the School District of Philadelphia, arrives at the end of the month, told the board he appreciated the opportunity to serve the district and would do his best to make the transition a smooth one. He said he met with the district’s executive team earlier in the day and was given an outline of projects already under way.

“I’m impressed with the implementation that’s been done with the Common Core standards,” he said. “Teams of teachers have been working to put things together and they are moving along well.”

Sullivan was also impressed with strategies being implemented elsewhere.

“The summer planning by the administrative team has been superb, the construction glitch aside,” he said.

Sullivan made one recommendation. He said the board should consider moving the date of a retreat it has planned for July 30-31. If the new superintendent is in town by Aug. 1 as planned, “it would be more appropriate for Mr. Boyd to attend,” he said.

In other business, the board approved an agreement with the law firm Walsh, Anderson, Gallegos, Green and Trevino to update district policies.

The item was originally part of the consent agenda at last week’s meeting, but was tabled at the request of Wikle, who questioned why the contract was increased from $50,000 to $125,000.

“My understanding is that this is an amended contract because the scope of the work has changed at the request of the district,” Sullivan said.

Originally, the agreement only addressed administrative regulations, which, according to a letter from Elena Gallegos, an attorney with the law firm, “are riddled with inconsistencies and do not always accurately reflect the law, current policy, district practice or other guidance material.”

The amended version of the contract with the law firm includes revisions to policies dealing with personnel and special education.

“So there are two pieces to the contract,” Wikle said. “That’s what I was trying to understand.”

Board President Frank Montaño pointed out that the contract calls for a $15,000 price break, if the board agreed to allow the firm to keep ownership of the work so that it may use it for other school districts in the state.

The board was willing to do that and approved the agreement unanimously, with board member Linda Trujillo absent from the meeting.