In an announcement from the New Mexico Public Education Department, four elementary schools in the Las Cruces Public Schools district will receive more than $1 million dollars in additional funding through a pilot project designed to direct money to schools with concentrated poverty.
The Family Income Index calculates data from the 2020-2021 school year and the census to identify New Mexico schools with the highest concentration of poverty. Additional funding is then allocated to those schools. In Las Cruces, Booker T. Washington, Conlee, Hermosa Heights and Valley View elementary schools will receive a combined total of $1,023,544 dollars. This is the first allocation of funding in the two-year pilot project approved by the Legislature. According to NMPED, another $15 million will be awarded to qualifying schools in 2023.
Schools selected to receive funding must use the monies for reading and math interventions, hiring school counselors and social workers, creating family information and resource centers, adopting culturally and linguistically diverse classroom texts, offering innovative professional learning opportunities for educators and after-school enrichment programs. Schools can begin spending the funds after July 1, 2021.