A passionate Velarde community showed up in force at a town hall meeting on Aug. 1 to uniformly oppose a proposed merger of Alcalde Elementary School and Velarde Elementary School, given by former Velarde principal and current Alcalde Principal Kiva Duckworth-Moulton at a regular school board meeting a week earlier.
Moulton was joined by Española School District Superintendent Bobbie Gutierrez and Board President Ruben Archuleta as the proposed merger was born out of an ever growing teacher shortage plaguing schools across the state as well as dwindling student enrollment in more rural communities, like Velarde and Alcalde.
“In Española we still have 26 openings,” Gutierrez said. “Many applicants, when vetted, don’t meet even the base requirements of New Mexico teacher licensure.”
The teacher shortage has affected Alcalde Elementary directly, which still has four teacher openings, which was the basis for Moulton’s proposal.
Currently, Alcalde and Velarde are forced to share resources such as health staff, physical education teachers, art funding and bus drivers. This is because of District budgeting issues and resource allocations imposed by the New Mexico Public Education Department, which currently controls District’s finances.
“What if our students didn’t have to share their counselor, their nurse, their P.E. (physical education) teacher, their art funds, their bus drivers?” Mouton said. “What if all of those resources were combined? What if neither school had combined classrooms? Wouldn’t that be the best for our children?
Velarde opposed
Joe Gonzales, who is beginning his second year at Velarde as a dual fifth and sixth grade teacher, meaning both age groups receive instruction together as opposed to their own individual grade level, is opposed to the merger and would not continue teaching in the district if Velarde closes down.
“I have taught in various small towns across Northern New Mexico, including Questa, Taos, Pojoaque and Mora,” Gonzales said. “I can tell you, to remove a school like this, where generations of this community have gone to school, would kill the community. Small communities like Velarde are important, especially for the student and teacher relationship.”
Many in the community, given past threats of the District having to close Velarde, think the District has already made up its mind.
“I think their minds are already made up, and they are just going through the process,” Velarde parent Elmo Valdez said. “It’s uncalled for, the closing of this school, it shouldn’t be happening. It’s all political.”
Valdez’s wife, Mabel Valdez, a former special education teacher, current volunteer and parent of two newly adopted children, was one of the most vocal proponents of leaving Velarde exactly like it is.
“I think it’s crazy, every community deserves to have its community school,” Valdez said. “This is a place where kids come to play, the community has meetings, kids play baseball and are accepted by the community. If the school closes, our kids will lose that community.”
Many parents voiced their disapproval of the District’s treatment of the school in the past, citing issues where bond funds weren’t allocated properly to school improvements by past Board members and the continuing threat of the school being closed.
Kim Lopez, a former parent of Velarde, voiced her frustrations at the District’s perceived harassment of the community and the continuing conversation of Velarde being closed.
“After my son got out of sixth grade, I moved him to Pojoaque for seventh, because I no longer have faith in this District, which is sad,” Lopez said. “I could have moved him earlier, but I didn’t because we love this school, Why does the harassment continue? I have been through this fight since my son was in kindergarten up until he graduated. It needs to stop.”
Out of District
Parents were also vocal about their willingness to pull their students out of Española Public Schools entirely in the event of Velarde’s closing or a merger with Alcalde.
Velarde parent Gustavo Rascon has three students currently enrolled at the town’s school.
“Put it this way,” Rascon said. “If they merge the schools, or close Velarde, I’m pulling my kids out of this District completely. Period. I work in Santa Fe, I will enroll them there, and take them with me every day.”
Desiree Ramirez, who currently has a third-grader enrolled at Velarde, and whose other three children went to Velarde through sixth grade, was just as passionate about the proposed school closing as other members of the Velarde community.
“I was devastated because this is a great school,” Ramirez said. “The teachers go above and beyond to help the students with their needs. This school is a part of our hearts and souls. I’m glad that they aren’t going to close the school, I want my kid here.”
Failing grade
Currently, according to the School Grading Report Card for 2017 released by the New Mexico Public Education Department, Velarde has an F grade, as does Alcalde Elementary. Velarde also faces issues with their building which needs about $3 million worth of repairs, according to Gutierrez.
However, the most pressing issue that Velarde faces is enrollment. The New Mexico Public Education Department could, given their control of the District’s finances, step in because of Velarde’s F grade and student enrollment of 44.
The state could force one of the school’s four teachers to move to another school in more need, given that Velarde’s current enrollment doesn’t warrant having four teachers on staff, or close the school entirely.
“As it stands, it is not the Board’s will to close Velarde. They voted last year to keep it open, and that remains,” Gutierrez said. “but I do feel that we need to have a conversation about the future and the sharing of resources between the two communities. Because, at the end of the day, as your superintendent, I have to look at the good and the whole of the district.”
Options
Velarde does have options, in terms of strategic planning, that could allow the school to remain open. These strategies, if implemented properly, would allow the school to reinvent itself as a magnet school, a public school that offers special instruction that is not offered at other schools throughout a district and is designed to attract a more diverse student body.
“What would attract me as a parent to send my students to Velarde?” Gutierrez said. “Velarde could look at becoming a magnet school, focusing more on a fine and performing arts curriculum. Do you want to be a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Science) school? Or, do you want to design a curriculum around Cooking with Kids? A curriculum that is aligned with state standards, and is known for developing community involvement.”
Velarde could also petition the state to try and become a charter school, like McCurdy Charter School in Española. If approved, it would completely separate them from the District. As a charter school, Velarde would be in control of its finances, curriculum and have its own school board, Gutierrez said.
Velarde parent Rose Romero has pledged to bring the community of Velarde together and present the Española School District and its Board with a list of recommendations and ideas created by the Velarde community to build enrollment and keep Velarde open.
Romero is supposed to present the community’s ideas by the end of August.
“Every school has its issues, and one way or another, the community will come together, we always have,” Romero said. “We want ideas, if you guys have any ideas, write them down. We can make a list with all the reasons we should keep Velarde open. Solutions for advertising and ways to bring kids back.”
Low student count
Even if all goes well and the Velarde community comes together and creates an iron clad strategic plan geared toward capital repairs, curricular changes, student acquirement and retention, they may, given the dwindling student body of the Velarde community, become victims of circumstance.
“Unfortunately we’re back, I was in this fight before I became a Board member,” Archuleta said in the closing remarks of the meeting. “Instead of fighting with each other, we all need to unite and start recruiting kids and making it a better place. It takes a community. We need to start recruiting kids because we don’t want the PED (Public Education Department) to make the decision for us. 25 or 30 students, we have no option.”
He also said the Board hopes for unity from the superintendent’s to the Velarde principals’ offices as well as the Velarde school itself.
The one area where both schools scored an A mark in the New Mexico Public Education Department’s 2017 School Report Card is in the belief that both communities believe their school is a safe and good place to attend and learn, the sign of a strong and committed community, according to the Department.
“The purpose of my proposal wasn’t to end something, but begin something,” said Moulton. “My goal is not to close Velarde, but create a new school with a new name. A true Velarde and Alcalde unified school. My message will remain the same. I love our students, I love our Valley. I loved being a teacher and I love being a principal. I see a possibility for our schools to rise above this place of working hard to a place of working smart.”