Had enough wind? At least the temps are rising into the 50s and the days are getting longer, giving some break to those chilly winds. The sun will shine brightly Monday morning. But yeah, expect some wind, too. This is the weekend of the 40th Monte Vista Crane Festival. Here’s a bunch of news items to get things started:
1. What’s up with Superintendent Diana Jones?
Alamosa School District Superintendent Diana Jones is a finalist for the position with the Weld RE-5J School District. That Jones is job hunting shouldn’t come as much of a surprise given her precarious situation with the Alamosa School Board, which she addressed in a “Superintendent’s Message” to staff Sunday. “Regardless of what the outcome of my interview is, I am committed to providing each of you with conditions for success,” she said and cited the ongoing work of transitioning the school district to a four-day school week, among other ongoing major initiatives.
It’s been difficult to understand the working relationship between the school board and Jones, who’s been in the job since August 2021. At its first regular meeting in March the school board voted to take “no action” on the superintendent’s annual performance review after spending months working to get it completed. The vote came after the school board met for more than 90 minutes in a closed-to-the-public executive session discussing the superintendent’s evaluation, then came back in open session and within 90 seconds unanimously voted to take “no action” on Jones’ review and did so with no comment or explanation.
In attending the various regularly scheduled and special meetings of the school board we’ve noted strong support for Jones and her performance over two school years as voiced to the school board by teachers, administrators and community leaders who have worked with the school district and have seen improvements. Likewise she’s found certain detractors, a parent here and there and a few school board members. Jones, through her annual evaluation performance, had been trying to secure a new contract to continue the work in Alamosa. But at a special meeting Feb. 15, again held to discuss Jones’ annual evaluation, the school board would only signal, after emerging from a closed session, that it would honor Jones’ current contract which runs through June 30, 2024 – or one more academic year.
Here’s Jones’ full comments to school district staff.
2. Addressing school security on ASD Radio
While relationships with the school board have stymied the Alamosa superintendent, it hasn’t stopped her and Assistant Superintendent Luis Murillo from implementing and moving the needle in a variety of ways. One is how the school district communicates, and to improve on that the school district launched its own weekly podcast. We know about it because our podcast studio produces each episode in a partnership with Alamosa Schools. It’s been a great way to stay up-to-date on all the critical issues of the school district, and the most recent episode is particularly noteworthy in that it features Scott Honeycutt, who runs both transportation and school safety for Alamosa Schools. He goes through the most recent prank “swatting” incident and the school district’s enhanced measures to ensure student safety.
If you want to know what’s going on inside Alamosa Schools and you want to hear from school principals and key staff like Honeycutt, we’d recommend tuning into the Alamosa School District’s podcasts, which are produced both in English and Spanish. We’ve learned a lot just sitting in on the sessions and listening to the conversations hosted by Ortega Middle School teacher Adriana Chapa.
3. Not one, but two National Heritage areas mark the San Luis Valley
Owens Wood nailed it. His Sunday story “Cradle of Civilization: The San Luis Valley’s two National Heritage areas” is a wonderful exploration on the significance of action Congress took at the end of 2022 when it maneuvered money from the $1.7 trillion omnibus bill into reauthorizing the Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area and the Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area in adjoining New Mexico.
“There’s a seamless connection between Colorado and New Mexico. It’s a passageway that’s almost outside of time. It’s a place you might think is taken straight from a geology textbook as a prime example of some ancient wonder of the old world. The history of this place is just as present and grand as the mountains,” writes Woods. We hope you’ll take the time to read the full story. It’ll make you appreciate the rich history and culture of the Valley even more.
4. Owning the water, but not the land
One of the early discussions the Rio Grande Water Conservation District held when board members set out to establish application requirements for the Groundwater Compact Compliance Fund was whether the water conservation district should purchase both the land and water of groundwater well irrigators. It has done so in other cases but in this situation the board decided to only purchase the water and not the land. That gives flexibility to farmers who can sell a portion of a full irrigated circle and permanently retire only those groundwater wells.
But in its conversations, Rio Grande Water Conservation District board recognized that revegetation of the land where it was purchasing the groundwater wells could create a dust bowl effect. So it put in place a requirement that will require farmers who tap into the $30 million earmarked for the Upper Rio Grande Basin commit to a groundcover revegetation plan. Doing so, it reasoned, will help keep down the dust from fields no longer receiving water.
5. This week on The Outdoor Citizen
Craig Cotten, Colorado Division of Water Resources district engineer for the Upper Rio Grande Basin, is the next guest on The Outdoor Citizen podcast hosted by Marty Jones. He’s a great, timely guest coming in as spring runoff comes into focus. We look forward to hearing the conversation. The episode streams beginning Wednesday.
6. The Valley’s volunteer fire and rescue heroes
In so many ways the joint training in auto extrication that San Luis Valley Fire and Rescue personnel went through on Saturday was eye-opening. We were there and were struck first by the camaraderie exhibited by the more than 60 firefighters who participated, and second by the level of knowledge firefighters possess to rescue us. Whether you’re a resident or a visitor traveling through the six counties of the San Luis Valley, you can take comfort in knowing that should you ever require the services, Valley fire and rescue personnel are well-trained and the mutual aid agreements mean Valley residents get the benefit not only of their local volunteer fire department but all the others across the region.
7. Valley athletes represent
Big week coming up for Adams State wrestlers and indoor track and field national meet qualifiers. Expect individual national titles in both sports, and possibly team titles as well. The Grizzlies are well-represented at both the NCAA DII Wrestling Championships being held in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and the NCAA DII Indoor Track & Field Championships in Virginia Beach. It’s only a question of how much gold comes back to Alamosa and the Adams State campus.
On the high school basketball front, Centauri High School sends its boys and girls teams to the state playoffs beginning Thursday in Denver, while Sanford has its boys team and Del Norte its girls team in the state tournament. All the teams play Thursday, looking to advance into the weekend’s final rounds. Here are the matchups: Centauri vs. Windsor Charter (boys game); Centauri vs. St. Mary’s (girls game); Sanford vs. Simla (boys game); and Del Norte vs. Burlington (girls game).
8. Loving breakfast
Gwyn Smith, the very capable nutrition director for Alamosa Schools, reminds us that this week is National School Breakfast Week and the month of March is National Nutrition Month. We appreciate the reminder, particularly since we do love breakfast, and offer this healthy tip from Smith and her kitchen crews.
Did you know? Eating breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day for learning, growth, sports and physical education. Alamosa School District offers breakfast to every student free of charge. The USDA sets school meal nutrition standards so that all schools offer students the right balance of fruits, vegetables, low-fat or fat-free milk, whole grains, and protein foods. Thanks for the reminder, Gwyn.
9. ‘Where the Cranes Meet the Mountains’
We’re looking forward to Saturday’s premiere of “Where the Cranes Meet the Mountains,” a short documentary to commemorate the 40th Annual Monte Vista Crane Festival. It’s scheduled for Saturday, March 11, at the Ski Hi Events Complex. Christie Bode-Skeie does excellent work as a filmmaker and in capturing the Valley’s authenticity and uniqueness. Last tip for appreciating this weekend’s Crane Festival comes from nature biologist Jenny Nehring. Head to the Rio Grande National Wildlife Refuge either early mornings or dusk in the evenings to fully appreciate the stopover of the sandhill cranes. Nehring and Bode-Skeie joined us recently on The Valley Pod. Here’s the episode.
TOP PHOTO: Thelma and Louise, courtesy of Kassiopeia Smith
A small favor:
Alamosa Citizen is committed to informing and engaging the people of the San Luis Valley. Unlike many other sites, the Citizen makes its journalism available to everyone to read, regardless of what they can afford to pay. We do this because we believed informed citizens create better communities. If you like what you’ve seen and heard so far, please become an AlamosaCitizen.com member or contribute in a way you choose. We have no out-of-town shareholders or billionaire owners. Your support makes our reporting possible, and keeps it free for all to access.
