It’s two weeks into the academic year and students at one elementary school still do not have the textbooks they need, and this is not the first time it’s happened.
Velarde Elementary School parent Trish Duran went before Board members during the Sept. 3 meeting to express her concern about the lack of textbooks for students at the school.
“The school, right now, has began (sic) with a problem that has carried over from last year, which is, the school does not have textbooks or workbooks in all of the classes, either one or the other or both,” Duran said. “I strongly believe this is a big problem. Our teachers need the tools that we can provide and as Board members, I would please ask that you look into this matter.”
Duran created in an email, an itemized list of all the materials students are missing. According to the email, first and second grade combination classes are missing workbooks and writing handouts.
Second and third grade combination classes are missing mathematics textbooks and workbooks. The fourth and fifth grade combination classes are missing mathematics textbooks as well. Also, the assigned laptops are not functioning. Either computers are not powering up when they are turned on, or students are having trouble logging onto them.
The fifth and sixth grade combination classes are missing both science and mathematics textbooks and their laptops are not working either. Duran wrote this is especially problematic because students have to write research reports and they cannot write them without functioning laptops.
Duran also wrote that teachers are having to work around the issues by sharing textbooks and photocopying pages from workbooks during 2013-2014 academic year.
Instructors said they were supposed to receive textbooks by the beginning of the school year, the first week of September at the latest, but they have still not arrived.
Instructors also said they are using their preparatory period to get copies of the necessary materials for their students, but they said cost is becoming a major issue. They are getting notices from Central Office about all the paper they are using and are wondering what they are supposed to do.
However, they said there are instances when they cannot find copy paper to make copies, so they cannot assign the worksheet. In those circumstances, instructors said they are creating their own practice problems for their students to solve.
Some parents are taking matters in their own hands and providing supplementary learning materials for their children.
“I am going online to find lessons for my children,” Kelly Duran, Trish Duran’s husband said.
Velarde had problems with textbooks before.
“This is not the first time students do not have textbooks,” Trish Duran said. “They (students) did not have textbooks all last, year so this is the second-straight year they do not have the materials they need.”
Española District Superintendent Danny Trujillo and Associate Superintendent Myra Martinez disagreed. They insist Velarde Elementary students have been given the materials they need to learn.
“We ordered textbooks for the elementary schools and distributed to Velarde last year,” Martinez said. “The textbooks are used in a seven-year cycle, so we do not order textbooks every year. We do order additional textbooks because they can get lost and destroyed. We didn’t order any new textbooks for Velarde because there was not an increase in the number of students who have enrolled at the school, so we did not feel we needed to.”
When Trujillo was asked why teachers claimed they had no textbooks when they were distributed to the school last year, he said he would look into it.
“I have a meeting at 2 p.m. here, then I will head out to Velarde to talk to each teacher,” Trujillo said.
However, he could not make it out to the school because of a conflicting appointment. Trujillo did say he would have a principal’s meeting the following day to address the issue but he could not provide the answer immediately.
Central Office could not find unfilled computer work orders for Velarde. Whenever a computer situation arises, instructors and administrators at the different schools are required to fill out work order forms so Central Office has a record of the issue and can dispatch workers to fix the problem.
“The only orders I see for Velarde is a phone issue and an Ethernet cable,” District Technology Coordinator Andrew Trujillo said. “I am not seeing any orders for broken computers.”
Andrew Trujillo later clarified the issue when he called Velarde. He spoke with administrators and said there is an issue with a specific program for students. He said he is looking into the issue with the manufacturer and he will get it fixed soon.
“Our Board members are wondering why our students are leaving our District and going to other schools; it’s the lack of materials that’s needed for our children and our teachers,” Velarde parent Crystal Fresquez wrote in an email.