After a 4-1 vote, less than favorable vote by Española School Board members to close Velarde Elementary, parents pleaded their case to state officials during the Oct. 2 Public School Capital Outlay Committee meeting in Santa Fe to keep Velarde open.
They charged politics as the central motivation for the school’s closure and claimed it was not done for educational purposes. They also claimed Española Board members want Velarde to fail, to justify their actions.
Española Superintendent Danny Trujillo presented several updates to Committee members regarding capital projects, including those at Velarde.
Trujillo said he would not use the award provided for the Velarde renovation project since Board members voted to close the school. Parents attended the meeting to provide a rebuttal to Trujillo’s claims.
“Closing Velarde Elementary will force students to attend Alcalde Elementary, putting Alcalde over its capacity,” Velarde parent Kim Lopez said. “There is an expansion project for Alcalde, but at a greater cost than the Velarde project. Why not do the Velarde renovation since it will be cheaper?”
Another parent, Kelly Duran, told members the school was not provided the necessary resources for it to be successful. He cited a lack of available textbooks and high turnover of administrators and teachers as examples of Trujillo’s mismanagement of the school.
Duran said that is the reason for the exodus of students from the school. Parents were simply fed up with the direction Velarde was headed and, rather than petition the District, decided to educate their children elsewhere.
After hearing from the parents, Outlay Committee Chairman David Abbey asked Trujillo for a justification regarding the closure.
According to Trujillo’s testimony, he and Española Board members are looking to “size-right” the District. Size-right is a term for providing students at each grade level with a single teacher who can instruct them. Trujillo said there are simply too many schools for the number of students for him to create that environment.
Currently, nearly all of Velarde’s classes are combination classes where students from different grade levels are assigned one teacher.
For example, Leslie Martsh is an instructor at Velarde Elementary and she teaches a class filled with second and third grade students. Moving students to Alcalde would allevisaid there is enough capacity at the school.
Trujillo provided economic reasons for the closure. He quoted figures from the facilities master plan conducted by an outside firm that stated closing both Mountain View and Velarde would provide a one-time savings of approximately $350,000 for the District.
“This savings may not seem like a lot, but looking at it in terms of salaries, closing the two schools could easily provide for the salary increases our employees have not had for a long time,” Trujillo said.
Finally, he stated logistical reasons for wanting to close the school. Alcalde Elementary, a newly built school, is located nearby and could accommodate Velarde students.
Trujillo said the school has been losing students for the past few years and now has one of the lowest enrollment numbers in the District, in addition to one of the lowest grades given by the state.
The New Mexico Public Education Department gave Velarde a “D” rating while Alcalde was an “A” school.
Several Outlay Committee members weighed in regarding the closure. Committee member Frances Maestas talked about the cultural ties parents have with Velarde and said she had serious concerns about the closure.
“Looking at the information, I don’t understand why Dixon Elementary was not considered,” Maestas said. “Dixon would have just as much heartburn when it closes, but it has fewer students so it would make more sense to close that school.”
Outlay Committeee member Gene Gant was concerned about the closure because community members voted for a bond measure to renovate Velarde Elementary.
“I come from a community that has not lost a bond issue because the Board does exactly what the voter says to do,” Gant said.
Gant said he was also concerned about the direction the school was headed. The school’s grade is currently low, but it wasn’t always that way.
“It was a ‘B’ school and from all the discussion, there has been no textbooks, there have been a decrease in teachers,” Gant said. “There is something going on in the school and I can’t put my finger on it.”
Despite the concerns, Maestas told Velarde supporters they had no bearing on the final outcome of the school. Maestas said it is the Board’s decision and she cannot alter the outcome.
Velarde and Mountain View are not slated for immediate closure. Trujillo still has to submit the plan to the Public Education Department for approval. If the Department approves it, the schools will remain for this academic year.
The majority of Velarde students will be transferred to Alcalde while Mountain View students will go to Chimayó Elementary School.