Teachers, Parents Balk at Proposed School Schedule Changes

Teachers, parents balk at expanded school schedule

Opponents came to Santa Fe from across the state yesterday to weigh in on changes to public school schedules. Yesterday’s final hearing held by the state Public Education Department also marked the end of the public comment for the proposed rule change. As SFR recently reported, House Bill 130, which Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law in March, requires students to receive at least 1,140 instructional hours per year, an increase from the previously required 990 hours for elementary school students and 1,040 hours for secondary school students. PED, however, has proposed an administrative rule change that would switch the educational calculation from hours to days and require all public school calendars to include at least 180 instructional days per year, exclusive of teacher professional work hours. New Mexico National Education Association President Mary Parr-Sánchez says PED needs to allow HB130 time to work, and notes the 180-day requirement would have the largest impact on smaller, rural schools currently operating on four-day weeks. “Thirty-nine of 89 districts have a four-day school week. They have used it as a [hiring] incentive, and it has worked,” Parr-Sánchez tells SFR. “A four-day week is something the communities support, and this rule would strip the local control that their school board has to enact that number of days.” But PED Secretary Arsenio Romero counters those districts “have multiple issues when it comes to student performance. Not only reading and math proficiencies, but also chronic absenteeism and graduation rates. The outcomes aren’t there for many districts.”

State replaces ousted archaeologist

The state Office of Archaeological Studies current program manager, John Taylor-Montoya, will step into the role of its executive director next month, the state Department of Cultural Affairs announced yesterday. Taylor-Montoya replaces Eric Blinman, who was fired in February and in May filed a federal lawsuit against Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Department of Cultural Affairs Secretary Debra Garcia y Griego and numerous other departments and members of her administration, alleging gender and race discrimination, as well as illegal retaliation. Blinman’s termination also prompted nearly 120 museum professionals and public citizens to send a letter to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham raising concerns about Garcia y Griego’s leadership. A settlement conference has been scheduled for February in Blinman’s lawsuit. According to a news release, Taylor-Montoya, a New Mexico native, holds a Ph.D in anthropology from Southern Methodist University; a master of arts degree in anthropology from University of Oklahoma; and a bachelor of science degree in anthropology from University of New Mexico. He began practicing archaeology in New Mexico in 1999 on projects in the central and northern Rio Grande area, and began his career as a public archaeologist in 2001 as a staff archaeologist in the Oklahoma State Archaeologist office. “John has a strong knowledge of the state and federal laws related to cultural resource management work,” Garcia y Griego says in a statement. “He has a clear belief that respectful dialogue and transparency are key elements for building positive relationships with the diverse stakeholders that OAS serves.” For his part, Taylor-Montoya describes himself in a statement as “honored” and “excited for the opportunity to continue working with the outstanding staff and volunteers.”

NM sees increased respiratory illness

Beckers Hospital Review cites New Mexico among the five states in the US with “very high” rates of respiratory illness. At the same time, hospitalizations across the US are increasing for both flu and COVID-19, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week issued a health alert advising medical professionals about rising cases of COVID-19, flu and RSV, alongside low vaccination rates. The combined factor of rising illness and low vaccination rates, the CDC said, “could lead to more severe disease and increased healthcare capacity strain in the coming weeks. In addition, a recent increase in cases of multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) following SARS-CoV-2 infection in the United States has been reported.” New Mexico’s respiratory infection dashboard reports only 5% of vaccinated residents are up-to-date with the COVID-19 vaccine (a slight increase from 3% last month). The dashboard also indicates rising RSV and flu cases here, and DOH spokesman David Barre confirms to SFR via email the health department “has been seeing increasing cases of respiratory illness across the state including COVID, RSV and the flu. This increase is happening during the holiday season when there are typically many more gatherings than at other points in the year. This increase combined with low vaccination rates for both COVID and flu is very concerning and we expect to see case numbers continue to rise. This is particularly worrisome due to limited hospital capacity in the state.” DOH, Barre writes, encourages “all New Mexicans to stay up to date with their vaccinations. To schedule a vaccine go to vaccinenm.org.” People who need assistance scheduling vaccines or who have questions about vaccines can call the DOH Helpline at 1-833-SWNURSE (1-833-796-8773).

NPS plans to hire wranglers for Valles Caldera cattle

The National Parks Service will contract wranglers next year to help corral errant cattle in the Valles Caldera National Preserve, National Parks Traveler reports. Last month, conservation group Wild Earth Guardians reported “persistent trespass grazing on sensitive wildlife habitat,” by cattle, reflecting a failure by federal managers, they said, to uphold promises to take several actions to prevent such destruction, including “fencing off protected lands on the Preserve” and “notifying the owners of the trespass livestock.” Several conservation groups in December 2022 notified NPS, the Forest Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service of pending legal action over “persistent illegal livestock use in the Valles Caldera National Preserve.” According to National Parks Traveler, staff at Valles Caldera sent 23 letters to ranchers last summer whose cattle wandered onto the preserve; has spent $350,000 thus far to repair border fencing; and plans to contract wrangler services next year as well. NPS Chief of Interpretation Dave Krueger, quoted in the story, confirms to SFR those plans. Using wrangler services, Krueger says, will hopefully make the process of identifying cattle, alerting ranchers and waiting for them to find and retrieve their cattle more efficient. He described the service as “mildly optimistic” they will “do better” in 2024 addressing the problem. “It will always ben an ongoing issue,” Krueger says, “but it’s something we’re trying to improve every year.”

Listen up

Land of Enchantment? Sure. But New Mexico also passes as the Tyrannosaur State, thanks to the discovery here of fossils belonging to Tyrannosaurus rex and its relatives. But the Big T isn’t the only dinosaur who once roamed the state. On the most recent episode of the state Department of Culture’s Encounter Culture podcast, host and El Palacio Editor Emily Withnall talks with paleontologist and New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science Executive Director Tony Fiorillo about another iconic New Mexico dinosaur, the Alamosaurus, and why we just can’t get enough of this unique, extinct animal.

We knew her when

New Mexico sculptor Rose B. Simpson (Santa Clara Pueblo) makes the New York Times’ list of eight breakout stars from 2023 (along with pop star Ice Spice and actor Bella Ramsey from HBO’s The Last of Us). Indeed, it’s been a high-profile year for Simpson, who followed up exhibitions at the ICA Boston and the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia, with the high-profile Road Less Traveled at the Jack Shainman Gallery in New York and an installation, “Counterculture,” at the Whitney Museum of American Art (through Jan. 21). Her solo show Skeena runs through Dec. 23 at Jessica Silverman in San Francisco. Simpson also is one of four artists the Madison Square Park Conservancy commissioned for the 20th anniversary of its public art program. In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar last month, Simpson noted the important role New Mexico has played in her work, even as her profile expands beyond. “I had to leave my ancestral homelands where I grew up and was born, in Northern New Mexico, to realize how important it is to me—that it is not just the people but the place that is family to me. I feel like that lack of consciousness around our beings, our physical and spiritual and social existence, keeps us from identifying and having respect for home.”

Fancy digs

The City of Santa Fe’s recently approved “mansion tax” attracts the attention, naturally, of Mansion Global, which advises “luxury home sellers now have a window of opportunity to seize on strong demand in the city before the added cost affects buyer activity.” The tax, which voters approved Nov. 7 by 73%, also faces a pending legal challenge from the Santa Fe Association of Realtors. SFAR filed its response to the City of Santa Fe’s motion to dismiss the case earlier this month. At least one broker, however, tells Mansion Global he doesn’t anticipate the tax—a 3% excise tax for buyers on the portion of a property over $1 million—will have a significant impact on the market when it takes effect. “The people who want to invest in high-value properties have adequate resources, so a 3% tax is not going to materially change their minds if they’re set on a particular home,” Sotheby’s International Realty broker David Woodard tells them, and says he has clients who may sell their homes at some point, but aren’t hurrying to do so in advance of the tax’s implementation. “Santa Fe has a shortage of high-end properties,” he says, “Couple that with the strong demand, and the mansion tax doesn’t really matter from a larger perspective.” Speaking of million-dollar properties, albeit ones a bit to the north, Mansion Global also highlights a 190-acre luxury ranch just outside Taos that heads to auction next month after an initial listing of $55 million. “It looks like something you’d see in the movies,” a New York-based rep from the auction house says. “I’m an urban/suburban guy, and I was just wowed by the property.”

The calm before the caroling

The National Weather Service forecasts a partly sunny day, with a high temperature near 47 degrees and north wind 5 to 10 mph.

Thanks for reading! The Word is overwhelmed and grateful for all the wonderful suggestions readers have sent her way in the last 24 hours and will try to share as many as possible. Pamela recommends Arthur C. Brooks’ “How to Build a Life” series from the Atlantic magazine; Brooke enjoyed the new Olivia Rodrigo album (and if you did too, don’t miss Rodrigo’s Tiny Desk concert); and Greg shared the very cool audio journal Aquarium Drunkard.