Latest news with #SantaFePublicSchools
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
New Mexico joins 22 other states in lawsuit over education funding freeze
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez spoke with reporters on Wednesday about his and 22 states attorney generals' lawsuit against the Trump administration over education funding. Next to Torrez is Bill Rodriguez, who directs the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program at Santa Fe Public Schools. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source NM) New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez and attorneys general from 22 states and the District of Columbia on Monday afternoon filed a lawsuit in federal court in Rhode Island asking a judge to order the Trump administration to lift a freeze on $7 billion meant for K-12 and adult education. GOP members of US Senate protest Trump freeze of $6.8B in school funding The money comes to the states through seven different federal grant programs meant for student learning and achievement; after-school programs; teacher training; and adult education and literacy. At a news conference with public school officials in Santa Fe on Wednesday afternoon, Torrez said the funding freeze undermines not only education, but also public safety in the long run. 'What happens to the kids who no longer have high-quality educational support in the summer?' Torrez asked. 'All of that impacts their ability to succeed in the education system and makes them far more likely to end up in the criminal justice system.' Bill Rodriguez, who directs the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program at Santa Fe Public Schools, said approximately 60 after-school staff in the state's capital serve 700 families and their students in 13 elementary and K-8 schools. Those workers are asking if they should start looking for new jobs, he said. 'Without the program, students' academic growth could be impacted, and parents may be faced with making the difficult decision to leave their children at home alone, or being watched by older siblings after school,' Rodriguez said. According to the lawsuit, the U.S. Education Department has approved New Mexico's grant funding plan since 2015, most recently on April 25, and state officials and school districts expected to receive more than $44 million on July 1. Schools weren't notified of the freeze until the day before that deadline on June 30, giving them almost no time to mitigate its impacts on families, school employees and children, said Peter McWain, executive director of curriculum and instruction at Santa Fe Public Schools. 'Without 21st Century funding, districts like Santa Fe Public Schools cannot give reasonable assurance of 21st Century after-school programming for this coming school year,' McWain said. '21st Century programming supports children who, without this funding, have nowhere else to go.' Kristie Medina, superintendent for Raton Public Schools in rural northeastern New Mexico, said the freeze will have a direct and devastating impact on students in her district and across the state. 'In New Mexico, where many students live in rural, low-income, multi-lingual communities, these funds are not extra, they're very essential to each and every community,' Medina said. Torrez said he finds it ironic that Trump issued an executive order seeking to make English the official language of the United States, and yet cut support for students who want to learn English. 'They want to more fully participate in the American Dream and in American society, and making these kinds of cuts will have a dramatic impact on their ability to do that,' he said. The lawsuit notes that the New Mexico Constitution requires the state government to provide funding so that teachers can be trained to be proficient in both English and Spanish, and have the ability to teach English. It also points out that state law makes it a goal for New Mexico's public schools to make all students, including English language learners, bilingual and biliterate in English and a second language, either Spanish or a Native American language. All three of New Mexico's representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives last week asked the Trump administration to lift the freeze, including Rep. Gabe Vasquez, who himself was an English language learner. Trump administration withholding $44M in education funding from New Mexico Ian Gates, with the New Mexico Out-of-School Time Network, urged the state Public Education Department to find funding to continue to support 21st Century Community Learning Centers. Gates said New Mexico allocated $15 million to after-school programs in its annual budget during the most recent legislative session, and 'we know that approximately $5 million has not been allocated' to programs in the department's Community Schools Bureau. 'These $5 million could be a lifeline for 21st Century Community Learning Centers that have been defunded,' Gates said. 'We urge the Secretary of Education to identify the additional $5 million if this crisis continues to ensure that students and families have a safe and engaging place after 3 p.m.' Source NM asked a spokesperson for the Public Education Department for comment and will update this story as needed. The other states suing the Trump administration over the education freeze include Rhode Island, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai'i, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin; along with the District of Columbia. The lawsuit points to eight other times in the last half year that federal courts have blocked the Trump administration from unilaterally freezing or withholding other kinds of federal funds, and asks the court to do the same here. Alongside the lawsuit, the states also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, which, if granted, would allow temporary relief while the lawsuit plays out. Torrez said a hearing on that motion has not yet been scheduled, and his office anticipates that will happen sometime in the next week. If the states prevail in that hearing, Torrez said, the court would order the administration not to cut the funding and the status quo would remain. 'Finding quality help to make sure and childcare and after school programs that weighs on every parent's mind,' he said. 'How are you going to go and find out where your child is going to be in a way that's safe, where they're learning something? I'm trying to bring at least some reassurance to those families and those educators within the next several weeks, but this is something that is going to impact everybody.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former Santa Fe public schools superintendent files lawsuit against district
SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – A former superintendent of Santa Fe Public Schools is suing his former employers, claiming they violated his right to due process after he was accused of sexually harassing a former assistant principal. Scott Fuqua, Hilario 'Larry' Chavez's attorney, stated, 'It's really about the school district's failure to allow him the opportunity to address those merits.' Chavez, the former superintendent, has described the past few months as challenging after he was forced to resign in February. 'Well, Mr. Chavez, his ability to hold employment as a superintendent or potentially just in the world of education as a whole has been severely damaged by the action of the school district, if not made impossible entirely,' Fuqua added. According to his attorney, Chavez was compelled to resign due to a lack of due process following the allegations made against him. Fuqua explained, 'He had submitted his resignation at that point with the understanding, you know, that he wouldn't be afforded the opportunity to respond to the allegations. And the investigators, you know, decided that given the fact that actually neither Mr. Chavez nor the complainant were any longer employed by the school district.' Thousands protest in Santa Fe over potential sale of public lands The lawsuit claims that Chavez was made aware of the allegations in December 2024, and in February, the school board accepted his resignation with a unanimous vote. The lawsuit contends that Chavez did not have the opportunity to respond to the allegations. 'In fact, there were Title IX regulations in force, and those regulations, like I said, generally speaking, give the opportunity for someone who is the target of an investigation to gather evidence and present it in their defense,' said Fuqua. Chavez's attorney emphasizes that this case goes beyond the damages Chavez has suffered; it is also about ensuring that proper processes are followed. 'It was taken on the basis of what we consider to be erroneous legal advice, and it has, like I said, permanently damaged Mr. Chavez's ability to hold employment of the kind that he has had his entire professional life,' said Fuqua. News 13 reached out to Santa Fe Public Schools for comment regarding the lawsuit, but they stated they do not have a comment at this time. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Santa Fe teachers need affordable housing, but plans to build it have stalled
Retired Santa Fe art teacher and longtime union leader Grace Mayer has watched for years as her fellow educators get priced out of housing in the city. 'Pretty soon it's just going to be an exclusive community, like Aspen. If the people who make this place work — the nurses, teachers, bus drivers — can't afford to live here, then what's left?' said Mayer, who served for a decade as president of the National Education Association's Santa Fe branch. While some rural school districts in New Mexico are building state-funded housing to help ensure teachers can live in the communities where they work, larger districts like Santa Fe Public Schools face similar challenges but don't have access to funds from New Mexico's Teacher Housing Pilot Program, reserved for more remote locales. Rising rents have been outpacing teacher salary growth in Santa Fe for years, spurring plans for a housing complex on district-owned land. But so far, fundraising efforts have fallen short. The Santa Fe school board declared a 'staffing crisis' in 2021, calling on the Legislature to boost teacher salaries and urging local governments to create affordable housing for educators. In 2023, the board passed a 'housing crisis' resolution, warning housing costs were threatening high-quality learning. Work groups began plans for a 40-unit housing complex on a 7-acre lot between Sweeney Elementary School and Ortiz Middle School on the city's south side, and the district secured $815,000 in state capital outlay in 2023 and $750,000 in 2024 toward the estimated $15 million project. But it wasn't nearly enough to begin construction. 'We kind of stalled because we hadn't received enough money to fully build out the program,' said Josh Granata, general counsel and head of government relations for Santa Fe Public Schools. 'So, we were looking at ways to raise money and just kind of reached a point where we have to kind of switch gears.' Although board resolutions had advocated for collaboration with the city of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County governments, Granata said those talks have gone silent. ' Prior to this, we've worked with the city and the county to try to see if we could collaborate,' he said. 'But we were running into problems because of the definition of affordable housing — and how school employees kind of fall outside of that federal definition in terms of how much money they make.' 4984994_022018SchoolBoard_80_CMYK.jpg (copy) Santa Fe Public Schools interim Superintendent Veronica García Still, interim Superintendent Veronica García said housing remains 'a board priority.' The district plans to revisit the project this summer and determine next steps for funds earmarked for the project. The district, García noted, also has a partnership with Homewise Inc., a nonprofit that offers up to $40,000 in down payment assistance to qualifying educators through an anonymous donor-funded program. Mayer argued such programs, while valuable, favor families with children and don't fully serve the needs of younger professionals — many of whom earn too much to qualify for subsidized housing but not enough to afford Santa Fe's market rates. 'The city sort of doesn't look at middle-income people or professionals,' she said. 'We keep telling them: 'We don't qualify.' ' According to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, the median gross rent for a Santa Fe one-bedroom was $945 in 2014. From 2019 to 2023, the agency reported, the number ballooned to $1,380 — the most recent data available. Since then, reports indicate rent has only increased in the city, with an average of $1,799 in April 2025, according to the website RentCafe. At a 2023 school board meeting, Mayer pointed out 60% of the district's staff lived outside Santa Fe. Current residency rates were not available from the district or NEA-Santa Fe. That high commuter rate affects retention, Mayer and the district have noted. Mayer said some educators working in Santa Fe and living elsewhere reluctantly left for jobs in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho to cut down on the daily commute. For those commuters who stick it out — enduring long drives and train rides — there's a limit in their ability to participate in community life and school events like staff meetings, clubs and sports, she said. Now retired, Mayer continues to advocate for housing solutions at the city level — noting her frustration at what she called an 'absurd' belief in 'trickle-down' housing — the idea that building high-end rentals will eventually ease pressure on the market. It's a long-held idea by those in local government she said, and not one that has borne results. 'If you don't fix this,' she recalled telling a city councilor recently, 'and start building things immediately, your city's gonna die … because there are no people to work in these professions.'
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Micro school districts ask for more state funding, local control
Micro school districts ask New Mexico lawmakers for more state funding and local control. (Photo courtesy Santa Fe Public Schools) Leaders from New Mexico's 'micro school districts' emphasized to lawmakers on Tuesday the need for local control, more state funding and opportunities for students and teachers in rural areas. According to an LFC brief, micro school districts are ones with 200 or fewer students; New Mexico has 20 such districts spread throughout rural areas of the state serving a total of 2,360 students. Mosquero Municipal Schools, one of the state's micro school districts, hosted members of the Legislative Finance Committee Tuesday for the first LFC meeting of the interim this year. Mosquero is located in northeast New Mexico in Harding and San Miguel counties. Mosquero Municipal Schools Governing Board President Victor Vigil told lawmakers local control is key to districts' success and a one-size-fits-all approach does not make sense when comparing districts that serve only a couple hundred students and more urban districts serving thousands. He emphasized that schools in rural areas serve not only as places of learning, but also as community gathering places and sources of information because libraries, museums, businesses and other facilities are not readily accessible. 'The school is the heartbeat of the town. It's the heartbeat of a community, especially in a rural area,' Vigil said during the meeting. Mosquero Superintendent Johnna Bruhn highlighted the need for additional state funds for micro districts. According to the LFC hearing brief, micro districts received $26,100 per student from the State Equalization Guarantee distribution this year, compared to the statewide average of $13,900. However, funding does not stretch as far in rural areas as in urban areas, she said. 'One of the things that would help is if micro districts were funded like we had 100 kids, even if we don't,' Bruhn said. 'That would allow us to make the…adjustments that we need to deliver all the educational requirements that this state has for our kids, to our kids. With less than that, we can't do it.' The LFC brief noted that micro districts rely chronically on emergency supplemental funds from the Public Education Department. Bruhn also pointed out that if the PED's rule requiring 180 instructional days in a school year were implemented in her district, it would require changing the calendar to a five-day school week with a later start time to allow students and staff to travel to school. She said that would increase travel time to about 15 hours per week rather than the current 12 hours. 'Instructional time would actually decrease to 27.5 hours per week. The four-day week is essential here,' she said. Bruhn added that more incentives to entice highly qualified teachers to work in micro districts are needed, including housing because many staff members, including herself, live in surrounding towns. Rep. Derrick Lente (D-Sandia Pueblo), a member of the LFC, said many of the concerns Bruhn presented are similar to those of Native communities in New Mexico. Local control of how and what students are taught is influenced by culture and tradition — lawmakers noted during the discussion that Mosquero and the surrounding area is largely influenced by agricultural work. 'If what is important to this community is farming and ranching, the same thing is being said by those pueblos, tribes and nations when we talk about making sure that what we're teaching our children in terms of a culture, in terms of a practice are rooted in a native language,' Lente said. 'I think that we need to share these with the PED because these shouldn't be a liability, but these should be an eye opener in terms of how we need to look at things differently for rural education.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Yahoo
KRQE Newsfeed: Deming mother accused of child abuse, Murder sentence, Storms, Santa Fe Public Schools superintendent, In-N-Out Burger
What's happening around New Mexico May 2-8? Young New Mexico actress speaks about her role in upcoming Apple TV+ film Juvenile stabbed multiple times in Gallup, investigation underway Uber discount offered in Bernalillo, Sandoval counties ahead of Cinco de Mayo Hundreds pack Albuquerque park for May Day Rally Valencia County residents will see property tax increase to fund flood mitigation [1] Deming mother accused of abusing kids, making them live in 'underground caves' enters plea – A Deming mother accused of physically and sexually abusing her eight children, whose ages range from 16 years old to 6 months, pleaded not guilty at her arraignment Monday. Valerie Cordell, 41, is facing 18 charges, 16 of which are abuse of a child (does not result in death or great bodily harm), one charge of conspiracy to commit abuse of a child, and one charge of criminal sexual penetration in the first degree. [2] Albuquerque woman sentenced for killing teen downtown – An Albuquerque woman was sentenced to 18 years in prison for killing a 16-year-old. In March of 2022, then 16-year-old Angelo Baldonado was charged with shooting and killing Josue Ruiz during a fight in the alley behind Lindy's Diner in downtown Albuquerque. Witnesses later told police that Baldonado's mother, Elizabeth Ortiz Chavez, was the one who set up the fight and the one who pulled the trigger. She later set her son up to take the blame. In January, Ortiz Chavez pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. [3] Rain and storm chances increase Friday evening across New Mexico – A cold front is moving through this morning, spilling into the Rio Grande Valley by 7 a.m. This will bring a gusty east canyon wind and higher humidity into Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and other areas in the Rio Grande Valley this morning. Higher moisture in the air will allow more thunderstorms to develop across the state this afternoon, especially around central and northern New Mexico. There is also a good chance for rain and thunderstorms in Albuquerque by the early evening hours. Rain and thunderstorm chances will return again Saturday afternoon across New Mexico, but storms will be more isolated. [4] Santa Fe Public Schools names new superintendent – The Santa Fe Public School Board has a brand-new superintendent. Thursday, the board voted for Dr. Christine Griffin. The selection took about two months after the district was looking to replace Hilaro Chavez, who resigned amid sexual harassment and retaliation claims by a former assistant principal. [5] In-N-Out Burger eyes property in northwest Albuquerque, documents show – A popular California fast food chain is one step closer to opening its doors in New Mexico. According to documents submitted to the City of Albuquerque, the preliminary site plan documents show that In-N-Out is considering building a drive-through restaurant in the parking lot outside Dillard's at the Cottonwood Mall. The city told KRQE News the plans are not finalized yet. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
