By the Los Alamos Public School Board:
Below is a statement to the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) from the Los Alamos School Board opposing the recent regulation changes proposed by PED for the 2024-2025 school year.
New Mexico Public Education Department,
We, the Los Alamos Public School Board, are writing this letter to express our opposition to the recently proposed rules changes. The proposed changes to Regulation 6.10.5 NMAC [School Instructional Time Requirements] would have detrimental effects for most districts throughout New Mexico. There are some foundational issues with this rule change that pertain to the communication, and potential implementation process, but there are also logistical issues that will impact how Los Alamos operates.
As for the communication on this proposed rules change, we are disheartened at the lack of explanation on what this change is aimed at addressing and a lack of any supporting data or argumentation. If this were to support a greater initiative, or supported by data that this change will likely improve our education system, that information has not been communicated. This results in this initiative seeming like a knee-jerk reaction to unrealized fears. Furthermore, we have not seen an effort to gather feedback on how this program would impact us. This is the case with other districts we are in contact with. The lack of feedback will lead to a poorly thought out end-product and will hurt the majority of districts in New Mexico.
The local impacts are something we cannot stand by and allow without strong opposition. It is noted that there is no definition to what a “class period” constitutes, even though the rules change mandates 4 class periods per day. Depending on how PED decides to define this, Los Alamos could see a dramatic change to the daily schedule layout for secondary school students.
Los Alamos is also responsible for adhering to the Collective Bargaining Agreement that was established in 2023. With the proposed rule change, Los Alamos would not be able to adhere to the CBA without extensive re-negotiation that could result in further hardships to the district. A large part of the CBA involves Educator Professional Development. This has been built into our current calendar, which will not be possible within the new requirements.
There is also a lack of understanding on how the 4 periods a day supports the benefits of the reduced credit hour requirement from the previous legislative session. Under this rules change a student would reach 32 credit hours by the end of senior year, but the graduation requirements from the legislature are 24 credit hours. This has been a benefit to many students throughout the state that are at or near the end of their school career and use the time to begin future progress such as trade schools, college credits, military preparation, etc.
We also are in the beginning stages of gathering data from the drastic calendar changes that were implemented due to HB130. The calendar changes were a shock to everyone and we deserve the opportunity to assess the impact of the changes and whether or not there is opportunity for improvement and where. This action is against every tenet we have learned while supporting education. Change takes time, and in that time, we assess and verify whether the change brought value or if it requires refinement. This rapid deviation from the legislative change is the antithesis of this ideal.
Finally, these changes would undoubtedly increase the financial obligation for every district that needs to pay for the educators to increase their contact time. It would increase the lunch program costs, transportation costs, and various other program costs. There are a lot of unanswered questions around this funding that our district will be unable to meet if this rule is changed.
Thank you for your consideration,
Antonio R. Jaurigue
Los Alamos Public School Board President
Ellen Specter
Los Alamos Public School Board Vice President
Christine Bernstein
Los Alamos Public School Board Secretary
Melanie Colgan
Los Alamos Public School Board Member
Sondra Wyman
Los Alamos Public School Board Member
Lauren Coupland
Los Alamos Public School Board Member Elect