Construction on San Rafael school set to begin in June

By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

SAN RAFAEL — Construction begins June 1 on a $1.6 million project at San Rafael Elementary School.

George Perea, director of the Grants-Cibola County School District's business and finance office, said the funding approval for adding three new classrooms and renovating and moving the kitchen area was received from the state's Public Schools Capital Outlay Council.

"We have to 'draw down' the money, in other words, pay for the construction first, then we send copies of our purchase orders, checks and bills to the state and they refund us the money," he said.

That typically takes four to six weeks, although on occasion in the past it has taken up to a couple of months.

Pauline Barker, district food service director, said the kitchen will not only be renovated with upgrades in equipment, with new equipment being added, the entire dining area and kitchen will be moved into a new addition that is being added on to the gym.

"The kitchen area is at the end of the gymnasium where the stage is and it is a small kitchen," she said. Students now eat at tables set on the gymnasium floor.

With the kitchen being moved, it will be larger and added onto the gym at the opposite end from where it is located now, she said.

The new kitchen will include a large walk-in freezer and refrigerator for storage, which the school doesn't have now.

"Students will be able to eat in a new dining area too, no longer in the gym," she said.

There are problems with the limited storage area which require food and milk to be delivered more than once, sometimes every other day to the school in order to feed the 90 students breakfast and lunch every day of the week, she said.

That is 450 breakfasts and 450 lunches, and that takes a lot of milk, she said.

Theresa Marquez and Christine Gose make up the rest of the cafeteria staff at the school.

Marquez is the district's floater, meaning when there is a need at another school for an additional cook, because of sickness or any other reason, the district calls her first.

Construction may not be finished by the start of school in August, but it should not impede classes from starting or cause problems, Perea said.

To contact reporter Jim Tiffin, call (505) 287-2197, or e-mail: jtiffin.independent@yahoo.com.