By John Hernandez
At the Mar. 19 Mammoth-San Manuel School Board meeting, the Board approved the 2013-2014 Certified Salary Schedule for the district. The salary schedule includes a 1 percent raise for teachers and a 15-cent-per-hour raise for support staff, both approved by the Board.
The Board also approved a $500 stipend for certified teachers, librarians, and counselors who sign a contract during the 15-day window and who return to work by August. The stipend would come out of the Instructional Improvement Fund.
The Board approved the resignations and retirement of Robert Ted Hardy, teacher (20 years); Joyce McClung teacher (22 years); Violeta Perez, teacher (7 years); Nicole Womack, paraprofessional (5 months). Board members thanked them for their service to the district. Rosemary Carbajal was approved as the accounts payable clerk.
Teachers Shawnie Christian and Manny Chavez were recognized for their outstanding achievement of being certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Superintendent John Ryan presented them with an award and congratulated them for all their hard work and dedication to teaching.
The Board discussed and approved new elective courses at San Manuel Jr./Sr. High School for next year. The new elective courses do not require any new teaching staff. Teachers have volunteered to teach the courses and have knowledge and an interest in the elective courses they will teach.
The new elective courses that the students will find interesting include: Advanced Welding, Fundamentals Information Technology, Psychology I, Plant Husbandry, Desert Gardening and Landscape, Speech, Game Design and Programming, and Fundamentals of Team Sports 1-2. There are some art appreciation programs such as World Music, Rock and Roll, Art of the Movies; Film Appreciation and Analysis, and Video/Music Editing.