Communities will be watching
Elementary School communities across Española Public Schools will be watching what happens with Tuesday’s school board elections. Specifically, eyes are on Position 3. Javin Coriz, current school board president, is running for re-election with Rick Vigil also on the ballot to take the seat.
The EPS school board is supposed to vote on a proposal within the next few months that includes plans to close Dixon, Velarde and Hernandez elementary schools. In a recent Santa Fe New Mexican article, (“Dixon parents decry Española district’s elementary school closure plan as enrollment dwindles”) when asked about how much small schools are costing the school district annually Coriz reported “at least $1 million at [is spent on] Dixon.”
This was a wild exaggeration, suggesting Dixon Elementary has an unfair burden on the district’s budget. Dixon’s actual cost is $627,775 annually, a readily-available figure that has already been discussed in a boundary study and explained in a community meeting. Dixon also benefits from after school programming, art and agricultural classes that are provided and paid for by the community, and are actually a cost-savings for the district.
Coriz’s not-so-innocent blunder in the media soured parent and community trust in the school board to be able to communicate accurately—and with integrity—about proposed school closures, a topic that is very sensitive and disruptive for local families. The antidote just may be Rick Vigil. As a recently retired EPS school social worker, his credentials would be a welcomed change in leadership for EPS’s small schools.
Ren Clark
Dixon