New Mexico is again ranked last in the Nation for public school education, according to both the Annie E Casey Foundation and US News. In Las Cruces, academic proficiencies are abysmally low. At Mayfield High School, only 13% of students are proficient in math and 34% of students are proficient in reading. I myself graduated from Oñate High School in the mid-90’s, and it is shocking to see that now this school (currently known as Organ Mountain HS) has only 9% of students testing as proficient in math and only 32% proficient in reading. The children of Las Cruces deserve better!
Three Las Cruces Public Schools board member positions are on the ballot now, all with incumbents seeking re-election: Patrick Nolan for District 1 (running unopposed), Pamela Cort for District 2 (running against Kristina Moore), and Robert Wofford for District 3 (running against Natalie Chadborn and Adrianna Garcia). With early voting already underway, it’s a good time to look deeper at how Pamela Cort and Robert Wofford have voted during their time on school board.
School violence is a top concern for many parents. In 2023, the Las Cruces School Board voted on whether to continue having police officers (School Resource Officers, SROs) in schools. Pamela Cort voted to continue having SROs in schools. Robert Wofford was the only school board member to vote against SROs in schools, stating that “disproportionately black and brown students are less safe because of SROs… the school to prison pipeline, that’s what concerns me so much.”
Most New Mexicans agree that girls and boys have the right to single-sex bathrooms, locker rooms, and sports at school. A poll by Independent Women's Network found that 91% of New Mexicans believe K-12 boys and girls bathrooms should be separated and 84% of New Mexicans believe sports should be separated by biological sex. In 2022, Las Cruces Public Schools implemented the “Gender Inclusive Schools” policy and regulation JBD, which allows trans-identifying biological boys into girls’ bathrooms, locker rooms, and PE sports. Both Pamela Cort and Robert Wofford voted for this policy.
In 2023-2024, a complaint against a sexually-explicit book in the Mayfield High School library was voted on by the Las Cruces School Board. The book, Jack of Hearts and Other Parts, contains graphic depictions of sex acts and illegal activities by underage minors, including an underage teen having bondage anal sex with an overage adult, a teen taking nude photos of himself to send to others, teens smoking pot and getting blackout drunk so they cannot remember whether they had sex the night before, mention of a student having sex with a school coach in the locker room, etc. If this book was rated like movies are, it would be rated NC17 or XXX. As one of the parents who filed the book complaint, I was surprised when both Pamela Cort and Robert Wofford voted to keep this book in the school library with full access for students down to 13 years old.
Subsequently, a formal complaint was filed after a public records request revealed that Robert Wofford and Patrick Nolan had “stacked” the book review committee against concerned parents. Wofford and Nolan recused themselves from voting at the complaint hearing. The outcome of the hearing was that the Board’s prior decision about the Jack of Hearts book was thrown out, clearing the way for a new book complaint to be filed.
These voting records of school board members matter. Las Crucens have a chance right now to decide whether they want more of the same, or whether they want to vote for change.
BIO: Sarah Smith is a mother of two teens who advocates for better education and a safer community. She also organizes a homeschool group for 125+ families, is a natural healthcare practitioner, and is a former NASA aerospace engineer. Sarah can be reached at concernedfornm@gmail.com.