“We have department heads, but we’re trying to do a little bit more across the department,” Snowflake High School Principal Larry Titus explained at the Sept. 15 district governing board meeting as he requested approval of Lobo Pack Leaders. He noted that pack leaders would work with the departments and share information on what other departments are doing. The board agreed to the plan, approving a job description for the new positions.

The idea for Lobo pack leaders came about after attending a Professional Learning Community (PLC) conference and discussion on learning to coordinate.

“The Lobo pack leader will work with administration and the district curriculum director to coordinate and lead both curriculum and activities in the pack to the advancement of district goals,” according to the job description.

The pack leader is responsible for scheduling the duties during his or her non-teaching time, and will be responsible to the high school administration.

“Pack leaders have taken a lot of people under their wing,” said Titus, noting that they were not sure if this would be a continuous program.

The governing board unanimously approved the job description.

In other business, the board held the second reading and approved policy changes recommended by the Arizona School Boards Association, which keeps school boards current with legislative changes.

Superintendent Hollis Merrell noted that the graduation requirements had some revisions, and explained that the state requires 22 credits while the district requires 24 to graduate.

When questioned by board member Charles Foote, Merrell explained that the reason for the two extra credits is that it enables release time students to take electives.

Foote said he felt that the number of credits required by the district should be discussed at a future meeting.

The board also approved the 2015 Capital Plan that will be sent to the School Facilities Board (SFB), as required annually.

“It is a forecast of our enrollment for the next 10 years,” said Business Manager Mark Ollerton, explaining that he looked at the last 15 years to get a trend of things, as well as residential development in the area. Ollerton did not request new schools for the district, pointing out that each school is below capacity given the square footage, so he is not requesting funds from SFB for new schools in the next 10 years.