After much uncertainty, it appears Española School District officials have successfully convinced state regulators to authorize out-of-state travel so a group of teachers can go to the East Coast for professional development training this summer.
A total of 15 teachers and three administrators will head to Philadelphia, Pa., from July 18 to 22, for the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) training, now that Public Education Department officials have decided to make an exception and allow school officials to skirt established best practices for making purchases.
District AVID Coordinator and Middle School Principal Julie Gutierrez was poised to cancel the trip, after learning state regulators insisted the nearly $40,000 costs be paid for using a purchase order, in lieu of cash or credit cards.
While using a purchase order to cover the trip’s costs wouldn’t usually present a problem, it did in this instance, because securing travel and lodging is a time-sensitive manner and getting purchase orders approved is a lengthy process.
Purchase orders wouldn’t ordinarily take long to process, but since the Department took control of the District’s finances in November 2016, the purchase orders are approved by state regulators, which increases the turn-around time.
Acting superintendent Denise Johnston said she was able to convince Department officials to forgo the purchase order requirement.
“We met with individuals with PED (Public Education Department) and shared our frustrations and they approved our hand-carrying the check to pay for lodging,” she said.
Johnston said she is relieved the District and the Department were able to work out a path forward that facilitates progress, without creating hardships for the teachers.
“This way, the teachers won’t have to pay out of pocket,” she said. “I was most concerned about the Level I and Level II teachers.”
Española Middle School teacher Yvette Bakaan said she was pleased to learn the District obtained the required approval and is excited to be able to complete the second year of her two-year Advancement Via Individual Determination coordinator training.
Her colleague, David Riser, said he is certain the trip will benefit the school community, as a whole, and provide more tools for Española Valley High School and Española Middle School, to help District instructors carry out their mission of educating the Valley’s students.
“I am glad we were able to get the funding worked out,” he said. “So we can bring something positive back to the school. We need all the resources we can get.”
Outgoing District Title I Director Larry DeAguero said the approximately $40,000 will come out of the federal Title I funding allocated for professional development.
Attendees will get a crash course in classroom practices meant to improve students’ reading, writing and critical thinking skills.
The idea is to reshape an individual student’s academic habits by instilling an overwhelming sense of organization in them, which includes time management and goal-setting skills training.
Gutierrez said once the educators return, they will share what they learned about the program designed to target middle-of-the-road students who may need a bit of extra support.
The over-arching goal is to make the entire school an Advancement Via Individual Determination learning center.
The administrators will learn how to establish a school-wide program and Gutierrez, as the director, will learn how to establish a districtwide program.
Job-readiness education
Board members also authorized out-of-state professional development training for four members of the high school’s staff. However, time constraints forced District officials to change their plans.
Instead of Principal Robert Archuleta, Assistant Principal Ruben Salazar, Counselor Evelyn Martinez and Teacher Terri Strauss going to Las Vegas, Nev., June 11 to 14, to take part in the Career Pathways Leadership Institute, the quartet will head to Ruidoso, for training, June 14 to 16.
The educators are doing the less-involved regional training because the Department didn’t get the purchase order for the out-of-state travel processed in time to secure lodging and other accommodations.
Attending the training in-state will save the District $1,107 in airfare, in addition to costs for hotel rooms.
Strauss, who is the District’s Carl Perkins Grant coordinator, said she and her peers will bring back what they learned, in hopes of expanding the career-readiness offerings.