Education

The Los Alamos Public Schools got a nice surprise recently when it learned the state has awarded four of its schools $138,000. The schools are Los Alamos High School, Piñon Elementary, Barranca Elementary and Mountain Elementary.

LAHS received $65,958.03; Mountain received $26,700.90; Barranca received $23,448.38 and Piñon received $22,283.53.

According to New Mexico’s Public Education Secretary Designate Hanna Skandera, the funds were part of Gov. Susana Martinez’s “Real Accountability, Real Results” legislation to improve the state of New Mexico’s public school system. The law, passed in 2011, is designed to help schools that need improvement as well as reward those that are doing well. One of the key components of the law was assigning each school in New Mexico an easily identifiable letter grade.

“The bottom line we said that since the school grades law was passed we want to champion success, and this is our opportunity,” Skandera said.

The funds will be used to invest directly in the students through either the purchase of educational software, books or other teaching aids that would directly benefit the students.

A sluggish economy, the uncertainty of the budget situation at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and a similar proposal from the Los Alamos Public Schools all played a part in the University of New Mexico’s Board of Regents decision to squelch a proposal to the taxpayers of Los Alamos.

This coming January, UNM-LA was planning to send out a ballot to Los Alamos residents proposing to raise the tax rate by two mils in an effort to bolster UNM-Los Alamos’ core academic programs.

The UNM-LA Advisory Board earlier cited declining financial support from the state as the main impetus behind the need for a tax hike. If the proposal was approved by voters, then UNM-LA could have received approximately $1.4 million in additional annual revenue. Two mil points would equate to $66.67 for every $200,000 in property value.

But, according to UNM-LA Executive Director Cedric Page, the board has decided to hold off on the proposal.

“The regents thought it best to wait until later in the year to see how things pan out with the economy, the general election in November and this fiscal cliff we’re supposed to go off at the first of the year,” Page said.

Entrepreneurs looking for the ideal place to locate their business, need to look no further than the Los Alamos Public Schools. Some might not know the LAPS has a number of properties around town that are suitable for residents who might be looking to open a business.

Currently the Los Alamos Public School District has at least two properties for lease, The “L” section of a building at 3540 Orange St. and two suites, “S” and “T” at 2101 Trinity Dr. And though they aren’t giving the properties away for free, the leases can be pretty reasonable. According to the district’s assets manager, Joan Ahlers, the process is pretty straightforward.

“If somebody wants to lease from the school district, whether it’s vacant land or actual office space, they come through my office,” she said. “We then do a needs analysis and find out what may work for them.”

After a price is negotiated, a three-step approval process then begins. First, the lease has to be approved by either the Public Education Department or the State Board of Finance. From there, the school board then approves the lease, before it moves on to planning and zoning at the county.

At a time when funding for public schools is stretched, Smith’s Food & Drug Stores will donate $47,152.48 to Los Alamos and White Rock public and private K-12 schools through its Earn & Learn Program.
A check presentation will be Tuesday, October 9, 2012 at 5:30 pm in the speech theater at Los Alamos High School, 1300 Diamond Dr.  Smith’s Store Managers John Roberts from Los Alamos, and Boyd Moffett from White Rock will represent Smith’s.
Local schools receiving a portion of the funds in undesignated cash contributions based upon their level of support in the program include: Los Alamos Middle School $5,066.60; Los Alamos High School $4,728.38; Mountain Elementary $4,380.14; Barranca Mesa Elementary $4,157.33; Aspen Elementary $3,665.20; Los Alamos Public Schools Foundation $3,099.73; and Los Alamos Band Boosters $2,927.88. Chamisa Elementary School in White Rock received $4,786.26.
Since 2006, Smith’s has gifted $448,665 to Los Alamos area schools. The donation from Smith’s is unrestricted and schools may select the most appropriate use for the funds. Eligible schools must be a qualified 501(c)(3) nonprofit, state-accredited, K-12 school located within Smith’s operating areas in New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming and Montana.