7-15-2024 10:57am

Learning From the Past Failure: Alamogordo’s Lacy Simms Charter School Closure Financial Failure

Chris Edwards Editor

Alamogordo once had a charter school located in La Luz. the Lacy Simms Charter Middle School. When it was proposed similar to the proposed Sacramento School of Science and Engineering there were questions about its viability and questions surrounding its fiscal plan and well being.

The citizens of Alamogordo need look no further than its own history to understand that the area does not have the depth of financial resources to lead and manage a competitive charter school.

The New Mexico Public Education Commission drilled Cindy Stong leader of the Charter project and Michelle Perry before a public crowd of 40 individuals on Thursday July 11, 2024. The lessons of a past financial failure of a charter school in arm’s length of Alamogordo must have been in the mind of the chairwoman as she questioned the fiscal planning and feasibility of the charter application as submitted.

A look back at history: Lacy Simms Charter Middle School near Alamogordo

Under a banner of fanfare for a competing charter school the Lacy Simms Charter Middle School opens on Canal Street in La Luz. The school with an ultimate projected enrollment of 52 opened to much fanfare and promised excellence in student outcomes the 2003/2004 school year. Minority enrollment was 39% of the student body (majority Hispanic), which was lower than the New Mexico state average of 79% (majority Hispanic) not meetings it’s promised diversity quota nor promised outcomes in superior academic performance results.

After the first year, a year of fanfare but setbacks and a lack of confidence in oversight by the public enrollment began to slide…

Without a solid foundation of a fiscally responsible plan with reserves in funding the school faltered and went into the target list of oversight by the state charter schools oversight committee which eventually led to the school having its charter revoked in 2007 per NMPED records. There are records of fiscal mistakes and mismanagement reported.

Lacy Simms Middle School beat Alamogordo serves as a reminder of a number of Charter Schools in New Mexico closed for failure to live up to its plan and promise.

The lessons of Lacy Simms Middle Schools failure and charterr revocation by the NMPED chartering board should be a lesson to local citizens.

Local and state history of closures of charter schools show that charter schools without a solid foundation of financial resources from the start, and without a board made up of a few public education financial advisers that are familiar with charter school funding and financing; the project is off to a weakened start.

Alamogordo citizens remember the history of what happened with the last charter school to operate in Alamogordo and email the NMPED encouraging the board to reject the proposal as submitted, sending the founding committee back to shore up a financial plan. If they are able to do that then the founders should resubmit a proposal that is fiscally sound for execution the next cycle. Email letters against the proposal as submitted to charter.schools@ped.nm.gov