By Naomi Hatch Out of state travel to allow the Snowflake High School football team to play in Kirtland, N.M., was approved last week by the Snowflake Unified School District Governing Board. “Several teams didn’t want to play us because we’re too good,” said Superintendent Hollis Merrell, noting they had the same problem last year. Schools would schedule games with the Lobos, then back out because they didn’t want to lose. Merrell explained that each year they play schools in the region and then they schedule other schools to play. “It becomes difficult when you are perceived as a good team,” he said. They were able to schedule a game with a Yuma team, but Merrell noted that Kirtland is closer and in August, it is very hot in Yuma. “They were very excited; they were looking for games, too,” said Merrell of the Kirtland team. The board unanimously approved the out of state to travel for the football team travel to Kirtland for a game. In other business Feb. 11, the board: * Approved out of state travel for the football staff to attend a coaching clinic in Las Vegas, Nev. * Held the first readings of policy changes recommended by the Arizona School Boards Association. Merrell explained that the policies underwent no major changes, and the changes are due to legislation. * Approved a staff request from staff to seek requests for proposal (RFPs) in sealed bids to widen area network circuits. Merrell explained that the district originally put in the fiber optic cable in the late 1990s, and it is getting old. The district can get a grant that would pay 70 percent of the cost to put a new fiber optic line from Taylor Elementary School to Snowflake Junior High School, and the grant requires an RFP. Business Manager Mark Ollerton pointed out that if the district cannot afford the project, it is not obligated to move forward with it. * Approved a line of credit with Wells Fargo. Ollerton explained that the state requires each district to have a line of credit because it reimburses districts late in the fiscal year. The district requested a $3,650,000 line of credit through Wells Fargo, but since 2008 when this was implemented, the district has only used it on two occasions. * Approved a slight modification to the district calendar. Merrell explained that the district calendar approved at the January board meeting for 2016-17 scheduled a staff in-service day on Feb. 10. They modified the calendar to move the in-service to the Friday before Presidents’ Day, Feb. 17, as has been done the past few years. * Approved the addition of two instructional aid positions for the self-contained emotional disability and preschool classroom. Cindy Peterson, who administrates the self-contained programs, explained that the student numbers in each of the classrooms recently increased, adding more students who require intense supervision.