Notice of Intent to Create A Charter School Filed with PED

A board consisting of a highly respected Dentist James Klump in partnership with board chair and former chairwoman of Flickinger Center Cindy Stong, and others have filed an application of intent to file a formal application for a charter school in Alamogordo.

MainGate a subgroup within the Alamogordo Center of Commerce which is chartered with crafting the best possible relationship and business development strategies with Holloman Air Force Base has tackled the role of education by  proposing a charter school in Alamogordo. The organization hosted a working group meeting to discuss and envision a charter school concept recently. 

Via social media posts the public was encouraged to participate and posts tantalized the public with the potential of an International Baccalaureate program coming to Alamogordo potentially via a charter school concept. While that potential tantalizing concept would have been a game changer and unique for Southern New Mexico public education the reality is the group has filed an intent to apply to create a STEM based charter school program. 

Per the filing "

The Sacramento School of Engineering and Science will support high school students between the grades of 9-12 with a STEM oriented curriculum. Specifically, the curriculum will be based on the NM instructional content standards and thematically anchored in Engineering and Science. Engineering and Science curriculum may support the following concentrations among others:

Robotics

Computer Science/Engineering

Computer Software and Hardware Engineering

Aeronautical/Aerospace Engineering

Industrial Engineering

Biomedical Engineering

The NM High School Science Integrated Course Map will be integrated with Engineering and Science concentrations to ensure students are prepared for Assessment of Science Readiness (ASR) in the 11th grade. In addition, all core course curriculum in English Language Arts and Math will be addressed through thematic crosswalking of the NM Instructional Content Standards and Engineering & Science concentrations so students will achieve highly on the The College Board SAT (to be administered in the 11th grade per NM Regulatory Guidance).

All is well and good and a strong STEM program is indeed needed within the APS community. The question still remains why could not the APS system implement such a program? 

It appears on the surface the newly elected school board does not have faith in its ability to raise standards and better educate the students of APS within the confines of the existing structures it is tasked with overseeing. 

As the intent to file document clearly states that "Students who are expected to attend the Sacramento School of Engineering and Science are most likely being educated at Alamogordo High School currently."

The document to the state PED also states that "a majority of the elected APS school board members have expressed support for a Charter School."  This point is just plain odd. As that means the existing school board is suggesting they are unable to provide for the best and the brightest students seeking a STEM based education and are advocating for those students and the state and federal funding that follows to leave the system of which they are tasked with oversight and go to a new untested system chartered as the Sacramento School of Engineering and Science. 

A unique and separate system of which they would have no part of.

Intriguing also is who is on the board of this concept pushing for the charter. A newly elected member of the Alamogordo Public School System Craig Danekas sits on the board of the charter as a "principle." How odd is it for a seated school board member to advocate for removing potentially up to 150 students from the present system of which he was elected to lead into a new unproven system? Is that not a potential conflict of interest?

Section 8 of the intent to file document states that "a majority of school board members agree?" There has not been any public meetings, public dialog nor public vote by the school board concerning this topic. If a majority of school board members have discussed this topic and discussed it with the charter school board that is a violation of the open meetings act as 3 or more members having a discussion would be a violation of the law if not in a public formal setting. This is a dangerous statement to have been made in the application.

The board is made of up individuals that are passionate about community service. However the board is also somewhat incestuous excepting for Dr. James Klump and Craig Danekas.

The other members of the board are Cindy Stong, board member of Flickinger Center which employees Lorrie Black. Another board member is Vickie Marquardt which is the county commission chair and who manages the lease and the pursestrings to the building and grounds of the Flickinger Center. Then the board is also made up of Michelle Perry and Jerret Perry. Jerret is a former superintendent of schools and is employed as the Director of the Center of Commerce of which Lorrie Black is past president and advocated his hiring.

The board members of the Perry's is a logical choice given their ties to education, Dr Klump as a well educated doctor and community advocate, Ms. Stong given she and her husband operate a STEM program.  

However the members of Marquardt, Black and Danekas make less sense excepting for political points within the community.

The details of the application can be read at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-YTeg7cptyjpAcqWMCgi4sitqwrpIt1_/view?…

The concept behind  the Sacramento School of Engineering and Science sounds like an excellent concept and a program that is certainly needed for the city of Alamogordo and for students from Holloman. In order to gain public trust and support it is imperative that there be complete transparency by the group advocating for this project. 

Further each step of the way, who is behind the concept, how it will be rolled out, where it will be located, will students still get to participate in sports, and other extracurricular activities offered to APS Students, and tons of other questions need to be fielded to the public? Transparency is the call for the present school system to ensure its success and this concept must be governed by transparency from start to finish.

A school of engineering and science is a great concept and we will be the first to advocate for such as program.

The question remains and the public must be convinced rather an external charter system or within the oversight of APS is the best solution to provide a well rounded educational experience to the students for whom the program should serve.

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