Five Months Into Office What Does the New APS School Board Have to Show As Accomplished?

The Alamogordo School board election was about cleaning house and putting a new order in place to maximize student outcomes, knock out any potential CRT indoctrination and establish a go forward plan quickly to get Chaparral built. 

What has actually been accomplished? The board votes to suspend the superintendent Pamela Renteria with pay and hired an interim Superintendent. Cost to taxpayers an extra 12,000 a month. Thus far Renteria is still on the payroll as the state auditor has yet to report a significant breach of policy that warrants discharge and an attorney was hired to also investigate at a cost of $60,000 per the assigned agreement with the District. That’s $120,000 dollars expenses and yet, as of the last board meeting no results. Maria Bauma is also on administrative leave pending investigation and also getting paid whoops expenses now around $200,000 and yet nothing to show for it. 

Yes the Dreamscape Learn contract was cancelled and the net result of that another year of APS students not getting virtual immersive classes and yet further falling behind in technology while the district plays politics due to a complaint filed by the Perry’s who were upset they were not awarded the contract. And no school board member has gone to Arizona State to even investigate the technology that was contracted even though an offer was made by a concerned citizen Michael Shyne to finance the trip. 

But of course why would they educate themselves, their mind was made up technology unseen.

Has ground broken on the new Chaparral Middle School? Nope and we wait! 

And yet what has been accomplished, a side group conspiring to create a Charter School is in the final phases of an application that will compete with APS and pull funding and a potential 156 Students out of public oversight. Not a peep out of the board except for the one member that was found in a situation of a conflict of interest. A petition is circulating in an attempt to demonstrate a concern with the charter initiative but nothing except for Crickets from the APS Board. They must welcome loosing millions of dollars and 156, less for the to manage one would presume. 

A petition is circulating telling APS to double down on STEM and to voice a no confidence vote concerning the charter school but as usual the board is ignoring the call out from actual taxpaying citizens. 

https://www.change.org/p/halt-the-establishment-of-a-proposed-charter-s…

And then on Sunday citizen learn that one of the best teachers in the system, a New Mexico State awarded teacher of the year is being forced out because the Alamogordo Board of Education does not want to invest about $3,500 and a few thousand in legal fees to file an HB1 visa for the program leader of the FCCLA, Mr. Prince Walter Aleluya. Alamogordo Public schools leaders would rather spend $200,000 on unwarranted investigations than invest $5,000 to retain a teacher of the year that has run a program resulting in thousands of dollars in awarded scholarships for his students. 

Save Our Teacher Petition
The petition to keep Mr. Alwluya is up to 440 signatures but will the APS board vote to approve pursuing a HB1 visa and retain this quality teacher? Odds are NOT!  

Yes the new board has certainly made a name for itself. Unimpressive, ineffective and a disgrace to the 82% of citizens that did not vote for them.

Taxpayers be warned this is what you get for apathy a school board running roughshod with your taxpayer dollars. 

No wonder the charter is gaining momentum as the newly elected leaders have yet to show any level of competence to regain the trust of the public. Thus maybe the charter mob has it right after all. End public education as we know it, privatize it all with MAGA leadership. We can only guess what is in store for next year. More of the same - a whole lot of drama that leads to nothing improved but millions more spent. 

Good luck Alamogordo your best days are behind you!