Tom Burris This is Me

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1. 1. www.cortezjournal.com

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   Published on: 6/10/2008   Last Visited: 6/10/2008

   Work will stretch into November, but the plan is to cause the least amount of disruption to classes possible, said Tom Burris, business manager for Montezuma-Cortez School District Re-1.
   
   To get as much work done this summer as possible, the high school will be closed, and community events and groups that normally use the high school will be scheduled instead at the middle school.When the principals and secretaries return to work Aug. 1, they will be housed temporarily in the computer center of the library, with access through the senior hall east doors, Burris said.By Aug. 11, the gym should be completed for fall sports practices to start, and by Aug. 28, the administrative offices should be done for the principals and secretaries.
   
   Funded by a Department of Education Capital Construction grant, the work will include an overhead sprinkler system and upgrading fire alarms.While the ceilings are down for the piping, school staff will upgrade the heating and air conditioning control system and the computer network wiring, Burris said.
   
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   "When the high school was built in 1966, it did comply with the code at the time," Burris said."But for student safety, it has been suggested by the state fire marshal and the Department of Oil and Public Safety, which have authority over school buildings, that the most cost-effective way to bring the building into safety compliance is to install a complete fire suppression system."
   
   Once classes start after Labor Day, on Sept. 2, work will continue on nights and weekends in one section at a time, Burris said.Some classes may have to be temporarily moved to another classroom for less than a week while work is being done in that room.
   
   Other work at the high school includes $20,000 for asbestos abatement, Burris said.
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   In August, the district should know whether it will receive a $515,000 grant from the State Historical Fund for phase two, Burris said.The phase-two grant would be used to remove asbestos and rough-in electrical wiring, plumbing and new walls, with work to start in mid-September.
   
   If grant money keeps flowing, future work will renovate the main and second floors to restore the building as much as possible to its appearance when it was built in 1909.Work would include 12-foot ceilings, original wall textures, a wide center hall, and larger rooms, Burris has said.

2. 2. www.cortezjournal.com

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   Published on: 2/28/2008   Last Visited: 2/28/2008

   Snippets of history filtered through the air of the Calkins building Friday afternoon as Montezuma-Cortez School District Re-1 Business Manager Tom Burris led a group of people through the old school and former administration building.
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   The group alternately followed Burris around the building and wandered off to find their own memories and relive a bit of their shared past in the building.
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   As Burris led the group around the building, pointing out interesting features and carpentry detail, many of them noticed features of the building they hadn't seen when there as students.
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   The Calkins building will be 100 years old in 2009, midway through the rehabilitation project that Burris is heading up.
   
   "Basically to rehabilitate the building we're going back to the original ... as much as possible," Burris said.
   
   Burris was pleased to have an opportunity to show community members the progress Southwest Contracting has made on the building.
   
   "This is really the first opportunity I've had to open the doors and have people come in and see what has been done and what we're going to do," he said.

3. 3. www.cortezjournal.com

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   Published on: 2/14/2008   Last Visited: 2/14/2008

   But the district, prompted by Re-1 Business Manager Tom Burris, is taking steps to ameliorate its teacher shortage with an aggressive recruitment campaign.
   
   Burris plans to attend recruitment fairs across the state and even in neighboring states.He started with the Fort Lewis College teacher recruiting fair Feb. 6 and will continue through May 2, when he'll attend his final fair of the year at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
   
   Previously, the district spent little time or money on recruitment, with a budget of about $3,000 for last year.This year Burris plans to spend closer to $20,000 sending principals and himself to fairs, where they'll try to draw teachers to the district.
   
   OFF TO THE FAIR
   
   A phone call to Burris the other day found him in the middle of creating a presentation setup for the fairs.
   
   "I'm building the three poster boards that say 'Come live here, come play here, come teach here,'" he said."And I'm following that theme through with some pins and with some giveaways that we can attract people with, I hope.I'm looking for some USB 256 flash drives.For real serious candidates I want to preload our application, some pictures of the area, maybe a little mpeg (digital movie) of our schools."
   
   Burris is concerned because many Montezuma-Cortez High School teachers are nearing retirement age.The average age of Re-1 teachers is 45 years, and the Colorado average is 42 years, according to data from the Colorado Department of Education.
   
   About seven M-CHS teachers will retire this year, and Burris expects a similar number of middle school teachers to retire.
   
   Recruitment difficulties are particularly prominent in the areas of math and science, Burris said.He also named English and exceptional student services, which includes special education services, as areas of need in a recent presentation to the Re-1 school board.
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   Burris and other school administrators seemed less worried about finding qualified elementary teaching staff.
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   But in the secondary realm, Burris said he believed Fort Lewis College only had one graduating teacher this year who would aim for certification in secondary math.