During the Winslow Unified School District governing board meeting last week the board adopted a resolution allowing the sale of “Old Main,” the now defunct high school located at 800 N. Apache Ave.
The former high school was built in 1929 and, as Winslow Mayor Roberta Cano said, “It is sacred to a lot of us. There is a lot of history and a lot of memories in that building. The only real way to preserve it the way it deserves to be is to sell it and let whoever develops it put the money and effort in to restoring this building.”
The resolution passed by the governing board does not quote a specific sale, sale amount or buyer. However, according to Superintendent Connie Gover, “The resolution has been submitted to our attorney with a stipulation that gives us, as a district, two years to remove our property from the building following the sale of it. Once this is approved, we can move forward with an actual sale.”
During the superintendent’s report, Gover addressed school safety as a priority for district leaders. “We have spoken to Winslow Police Chief Ken Arend and they are willing to do walkthroughs at our school sites to do threat assessments and to let us know what we can do to improve our security at our schools. They will also do a training presentation with us on what to do in the event of a disaster or security situation.”
Finally, she let the board know the district will be bringing back a school resource officer this school year. Winslow Police Officer Phillip Moncayo will fill that role and will be visible, according to Gover, at all five Winslow schools.
In other business, the governing board in the absence of President Al Leonard:
* Ratified vouchers in a routine procedure that allows the board to submit vouchers to the county superintendent between meetings.
* Approved the hiring of Sydney Baker as a paraprofessional at Jefferson Elementary School.
* Approved the transfer of Larry Oso from transportation attendant/driver to mechanic/driver and Christopher Gonzales from transportation driver to attendant/driver.
* Accepted the resignations of Stephanie Cole, health technician and Bonnie Garett, high school English teacher, both effective immediately.
* Approved Solution Tree Educational Services as a sole source provider for professional development and support for district-wide Professional Learning Communities (PLC).
* Approved SAGA Educational Counseling as a sole source provider for professional development in cognitive coaching, academic coaching systems and best practices by Dr. Rob Robertson.
* Adopted a social studies/economic textbook for use at Winslow High School for the 2022-23 school year. The book has been on display at WHS for the required 60-day period.
* Approved the submission of revisions of policies to the Arizona School Boards Association (ASBA). The changes allow WUSD staff to take two to five consecutive days leave once in a fiscal year and 12-month employees to take two to five consecutive days leave twice per fiscal year. Previously, the policy stated three days. The other change adds field trip destination options to the existing list. The revisions will be submitted to ASBA for approval.
* Approved the disposal of equipment in a routine annual procedure that makes the governing board aware of large assets, such as busses being disposed of.
* Heard the financial report for June in which 86.06% of the budget has been spent at 96% of the school year has passed.
The next meeting of the Winslow Unified School District governing board will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 3, in the board meeting room, located at 800 N. Apache Ave.
