New HS start up debated

By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP — How will Miyamura High School be brought on board in the next school year?

That was the question on the minds of school board members Tuesday. While the school technically exists, it’s still a junior high this year. The district plans to phase it in over the next four years so that eventually it will stand with Gallup High School as a full-fledged high school.

Teresa Mariano, assistant superintendent for personnel, said meetings are now under way to determine the staffing level next year at the high school and who will be teaching there.

There was also discussions on the redesign of the new high school and just how many classes will have to be housed in portables during the construction period. Frank Chiapetti, the school’s principal, said the A and B wings will be kept intact, so there will not be as much need for portables.

But board member Annie Descheny said she’s still worried about housing students in portables temporarily because of the impact it will have on teaching and possible effects it will have on the district’s attempts to bring the school up to Adequate Yearly Progress levels during the construction period.

“I’m just not comfortable with it,” she said.

District officials pointed out that there are good portables and not-so-good portables in the school system, and the plans are to move the better portables to the high school.
The attendance record for Tse Yi Gai High School looks impressive on paper.

But the problem the Gallup-McKinley County School District faces is whether these figures are accurate.
Attendance at Tse Yi Gai, located in northern McKinley County, was 93.5 percent, which puts its attendance at about the same as other high schools in the district.

The school, which at 143 students, has the smallest enrollment in the district, but school board members have been hearing that there are times when only a small fraction of the enrolled students attend.

Ed Monaghan, an assistant superintendent for learning services, said that the 93.5 percent attendance figures may be inflated.

The reason: If teachers don’t take roll, the school lists everyone in the class as being present.

So the school board directed school officials to continue in their attempts to find the true enrollment figures for the school.