The Montezuma-Cortez District Accountability Committee on Monday discussed tutoring, the new salary schedule and coaching pay, among other items.
During their School Accountability Committee and community updates portion of the meeting, the use of Varsity Tutors was discussed. Varsity Tutors, which is utilized by the district, is an online resource that provides one-on-one tutoring for students who need help in a particular area of their studies. Tutors meet with students virtually.
Members of the DAC noted some concerns with Varsity Tutors, sharing that the program wasn’t “quite flexible enough to give kids what they need in the moment.”
If a child needs help in a subject, the district has to give Varsity Tutors a 48-hour notice to receive help for the child. They noted that system could be inefficient if a student is struggling with a topic on Monday, but can’t receive tutoring until Wednesday or Thursday.
Jim Parr, executive director of student academic services, added that there have been times where there were issues with tutors not showing up or the wrong tutors being assigned, like a biology tutor being assigned to an algebra student.
Parr noted that Montezuma-Cortez High School Principal Jennifer Boniface was working on making the tutoring process work better and hopefully add more in-house tutors.
The DAC said they thought more in-person tutors would be beneficial.
The committee also requested more information at the new salary schedule that was approved at a special meeting of the Montezuma-Cortez school board. The salary schedule was revised following the successful passage of the mill levy override in November.
While Parr said that subject wasn’t in his particular area of responsibility in the district, he gave some details surrounding the new salary schedule.
With the override, teacher salaries will increase from $40,000 tot $47,000 for the 2025-26 school year and beyond. Money collected already will also be distributed on a monthly basis until the end of this school year.
Parr shared it has been “nothing short of challenging” to work out all the details of the mill levy and how it should be distributed. He also said that discussions are taking place regarding district charter schools and whether or not they will be qualified to receive mill levy money.
He said while they don’t really have control over the charters and how they spend their money, they would need to ensure the charters only allocate money for teachers and paraprofessionals, as that was an integral part of the ballot language.
Though the DAC planned to discuss potential bylaw revisions, they decided to table it to their next meeting as member Laura DeWitt was not in attendance.
The last item on the DAC’s agenda revolved around the topic of coach pay.
Longtime coach Bob Archuleta, who has been coaching in the district since 1977, spoke to the DAC on this matter.
Archuleta shared that when he first started coaching in the district, pay was only $150 a season for assistant coaches. While the pay has increased over the years, he noted that pay is still not what it should be to attract and retain knowledgeable and quality coaches.
While people “primarily see the Friday night lights and Saturday night lights,” there is much more to coaching than game days, Archuleta said.
He spoke of the planning, practices, effort and time it takes to be a coach, adding that sports are often not limited to a season, as athletes who wish to make it to the next level will be training nearly all year.
Though assistants are nearly always needed, Archuleta added that there isn’t enough money to pay enough assistants who know the sport and can contribute high quality coaching to the teams they are hired to coach.
Before adjourning, the DAC mentioned making “monetary goals” for coaching pay, even if just to help search for grants that could help raise coach pay in the district.
The next DAC meeting is March 3 at 5:30 p.m.
