Española School District administrators, in collaboration with Rio Arriba County officials, are set to offer a summer recreation program, Moves to Win, for the second consecutive year, at a reduced cost to the financially troubled District, despite lingering questions about fiscal discrepancies with federal funding for the program.
The District cut the County a check for $75,000 a year ago, so County officials could serve as the fiscal agents for the joint program, but budget concerns and lower-than-expected enrollment during the program’s first year, has reduced the County’s allocation to $50,000, while another $50,000 comes from the District’s Medicaid School Services federal fund allotment.
Superintendent Bobbie Gutierrez confirmed the program’s allocation from the District would be decreased this year by $25,000.
County officials made a report available to District officials last year, showing that $32,864 of the $75,000 allocated was spent supporting the program, which left a $42,136 balance.
Gutierrez said the County reimbursed the District’s portion, which was approximately $18,000.
A three-minute-long video to promote the program last year was produced by the now-defunct Orthrus Promotions Company, on behalf of the County, at a cost of $5,300.
The District was forced to pay back $5,000 to the state for the purchase of boxing tickets to a match promoted, in part, by Orthrus Promotions Company, which didn’t fit federal fund guidelines.
County Commissioner Barney Trujillo did not return calls or an email to verify the County’s participation in the program this year. It is also unclear if the County reimbursed surplus funds to the state, or what became of last year’s outstanding balance.
County Recreation Department Director Joseph Martinez also failed to return calls regarding specifics about this year’s program.
Trujillo is under contract with the District to market and promote their programs. According to financial records made available by District staff, he was paid $4,166 last month for marketing services, as part of a $50,000 per year contract.
Eric Vigil, the District’s athletic coordinator and Sennie Quintana, director of transportation, are running the program for the District this summer. Vigil said they expect 300 students to sign up, down from a projected 500 last year.
Vigil said the County is planning to promote this year’s program via flyers distributed throughout the community and the District will promote it through spots on local radio.
The District has a deal with Española’s KDCE Radio, to promote some of their events and programs.
Details of this year’s program were made available by Vigil and Quintana during a joint presentation to the Española School Board, during the March 23 meeting.
According to statistics presented at the meeting, the majority of students enrolled in the program last year were from Española, with a 44-percent participation rate, versus only 12 percent from Santa Cruz and 11 percent from Alcalde.
Quintana said enrollment for the program last year was 277 total students, which was above what enrollment had been for similar programs.
“We were hoping for 500, hoping to double what had been done previously,” Vigil said. “This year, we plan on running the program for seven weeks. We kind of moved it back a week this year because last year, we didn’t give our staff any break and a lot of them are certified teachers. We needed to give our staff a week after school finishes to catch their breath a little bit and then we’ll get it started. I think students enjoy a couple of days of summer on their own.”
Quintana said the program is only running four days a week this year because data shows that Friday is a really slow day.
“A lot of parents at the (Los Alamos) Lab are off on Fridays,” she said. “We noticed the enrollment at the College, Fridays are really slow.”
Trujillo envisioned the project as a replacement to a National Youth Sports Program that Northern New Mexico College ran up until summer of 2014, when the grant used to fund it was not renewed.
Gutierrez said the Moves to Win program justifies the use of Medicaid school-based federal funds because the expenditure aligns with approved services authorized through the program.
Vigil said an hour is being added to the day with program activities ending at 3 p.m. instead of 2 p.m. This will give staff a bit more time after lunch to do additional activities and is designed to help parents with their work schedules. This year’s program has also been extended to include 8-year-olds, in an attempt to beef up enrollment.
The staff is also hoping to work out an agreement with the Boys and Girls Club in Abiquiú and Chimayó.
“If we have students who need a place to go after our program ends, we can take them there,” Quintana said. “We are trying to get another entity involved.”
The Children Youth and Families Department is also involved in the program, but District staff said their involvement is minimal.
“Their part of it is the food, more than anything else,” Quintana said.
She said the County runs the program financially and they have presentations from the fire department, DWI program and all of their directors. They also hire summer youth to assist the instructors.
The program is scheduled to run for seven weeks, from June 6 to July 29. Vigil said it is scheduled to go up for approval by the Board in the next couple of weeks.