The Las Cruces Board of Education is one step closer to filling the vacant seat left in the wake of Former Board Member Terrie Dallman’s resignation, finalizing hiring process decisions ahead of July 6 interviews.
Each member of the board will be responsible for asking between 1-2 questions per candidate, depending on the number of applicants. To include students in the interview process, the LCPS Student Advisory Council will also have the opportunity to ask a question to prospective candidates.
Board Member Maria Flores emphasized the temporary nature of the position, saying community members will have an opportunity to be heard when the seat is up for re-election in the fall.
“It's simple, this is not an election,” Flores said. “And so, we're selecting someone to fill the role for the two, three months that are leftover. And so, the election is coming up in November and then the public will be able to speak.”
Board Member Teresa Tenorio says she is excited to meet the candidates, who have until 5 pm on June 22 to apply for the position.
“I'm excited,” Tenorio said. “Excited that people would want to serve.”
The board also discussed the current challenges of redistricting, which include population growth in the East Mesa area. School Board President Ray Jaramillo stressed the need to expediently alleviate overcrowding.
“We're not going to be able to sustain those elementary schools,” Jaramillo said. “Especially elementary schools on the East Mesa. They were bursting two years ago. And so, I think that problem is only going to get worse…In my head, we probably need to come up with a short-term solution, and also a long-term solution that kind of feed into each other a little bit.”
While the Redistricting Committee for Las Cruces Public Schools has information on elementary schools, the committee is lacking sufficient data, including geocoding and demographic information, for both middle and high schools. The committee has asked that the timeline for the project be extended while more information is collected.
School Board Member Maria Flores says it is critical that a short-term plan is created with the information currently available.
“I'm thinking that it is urgent to do something about the elementary schools, and it would be a short-term solution,” Flores said. “It's been two or three years and kicking it down the line is not a good idea...just enough to ease the crowding in Sonoma and Highland and wherever else and realigning just a touch to fix it for now.”
Superintendent Ralph Ramos agreed that a short-term solution is currently needed, saying he would like to see a plan this summer.
“We need to make something happen before July, especially for the overpopulated elementaries so we can get that out to the parents, for this coming school year,” Ramos said.
He says the district will have to get creative, not only through building new schools but also expanding current buildings to accommodate growth.
“We know that the population is exploding on the East Mesa,” Ramos said. “But we don't know yet, and that's why we need this data, do we need another elementary? Possibly so. But also, maybe not just building another elementary, maybe a middle school might be needed. But also, possibly building another wing at a current school to help offset all those figures, you know with that, to really get creative.”
