By Danielle Prokop

 

More similarities than differences defined the approaches and philosophies on display by the three candidates vying for the superintendent in Las Cruces at a public forum on June 22.

 

The three people up for the job – Deborah Elder, Monica Mesa and Ignacio Ruíz – emphasized listening to the district, not overhauling it. They want to celebrate its bilingualism and collaborate with businesses, higher education, unions and students.

 

A little more than 50 attendees made up of parents, district teachers and staff filed into the Organ Mountain High School auditorium to hear from three finalists.

 

About 20 of the attendees were members of the 72-person advisory committee, which authored the ten questions given to each candidate. The committee was broken into groups – including students, parents, higher education, support staff, teachers, administrators, business leaders, and health and human services.

 

 

The district has a population of just over 24,000 students. About 78% of the students are Hispanic, and the district defines just under three-quarters of their students to be economically disadvantaged.

 

Finalist backgrounds

 

Elder, Mesa and Ruíz offered their backgrounds and qualifications, and dedicated more than an hour afterwards to a meet-and-greet reception.

 

All three are from the Southwest, Elder and Mesa both born in New Mexico, and Ruíz in Tucson.

 

Elder emphasized her experience of nearly three decades inside New Mexico schools, including the state’s largest district, Albuquerque Public Schools. She’s been a teacher, principal and held cabinet-level positions in two districts. Elder is the current interim superintendent for Los Lunas Public Schools.

 

Mesa grew up in Silver City and said she wanted to return to southern New Mexico.Her entire teaching career has been in Arizona. After graduating from New Mexico State University, she worked in Phoenix and nearby Mesa school districts. She’s also been a teacher, principal, university instructor and principal coach. She currently oversees 26 elementary schools.

 

 

Ruíz described his upbringing in Tucson and spending time in Nogales, Mexico with his grandparents. He said his experience as an English language learner, shaped his teaching and leadership philosophy. He’s an assistant superintendent in the Clark County Schools District in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was a teacher, principal and athletics coach in Tucson.

 

Here’s what the finalists said

 

The panel was moderated by JG Consulting President James Guerra, and all the questions were prepared ahead of time with members of the local advisory committee.

 

Questions ranged over prior budget experience (all participated before), comfort with delegating authority (all very comfortable), and importance to extracurriculars (they all called them “crucial,” to building “well-rounded students,” and getting kids engaged in learning).

 

Candidates often piggybacked off one another’s answers in the two-hour panel, saying they agreed with each other’s approaches or considerations.

 

One space with different answers from each candidate came from a question posed by students on the advisory board. The question asked how the district would prioritize mental health.

 

Mesa said the first step is interviewing students, looking for a “root-cause” of not wanting to attend, and building a sense of belonging. She pointed to how listening to students changed her policies on suspending students for truancy, and helped teachers and administrators shift their views.

 

“We took ownership as the adults on campus of how we needed to change our environment, how we needed to alter our lessons to make them more engaging, and really ensure that everybody was known by their strengths, but also by their needs.” Mesa said.

 

Elder said the pandemic traumatized kids across the country as they dealt with isolation and grief. She said the school has to look for outward support to help manage the unprecedented levels of need.

 

“We have school social workers, we have school counselors, and they are stretched thin, I imagine, here just as everywhere else,’ Elder said. “But that’s where the community comes in, and the community health organizations to help further support our students and extend that support into school, as well as after school and through the summer.”

 

Ruíz said in addition to adding resources for mental health, placing a focus on extracurricular activities can build community in school, and help prevent truancy and disaffected students.

 

“I was in band, I was in sports, that got me to school as well and helped me in my classes, to focus,” he said. “Students, they need to have a sense of belonging, right, so we need to have that connection. And we need to provide those opportunities.”

 

Towards the end of the panel, the question prepared by the parents on the advisory board asked what distinguished the candidates from each other and made them best for the position.

 

Elder said her knowledge of navigating the New Mexico political and educational landscape was invaluable.

 

“As New Mexicans it’s not always ‘what you know’ it’s —” she paused as the crowd responded: “who you know.”

 

She said her mindset has adapted in the superintendent role to “make the hard decisions, communicate those decisions and stand behind them.”

 

Ruíz said his upbringing means he can communicate with everyone in the community, in English and Spanish, and can relate to the Las Cruces community.

 

“I am able to come in and in the lens of being an advocate, for our students, an advocate for our staff and advocate for our community,” he said

 

Mesa, who is also bilingual, said her qualification stems with her connection with the community paired with a leadership style that “impacts students positively.”

 

“I am a teacher first. So when I think about how I lead, I think about what needs to happen to make the most effective classrooms,” she said.

 

The district’s five middle schools are struggling. NMVistas scores, given by the state’s Public Education Department show the scores are in the bottom third, ranging from 21 to 30 out of 100. Each school was also given a designation that it needs target support since student groups performed poorly.

 

Source NM asked each of the three candidates about their approaches to address middle schoolers in particular.

 

Ruíz said he would look beyond test scores and add interim assessments.

 

“Look at that data, and ensure that we’re having conversations with our principals and teachers, being transparent about how we react to the data,” he said. “When the student needs more support, we’ve got to figure that out as well.”

 

Mesa said basics in reading and math need emphasis in elementary school, and then triage measures put into middle schools, which she said is “easier said than done.”

 

“But we really need to think about how we tier out instruction for our students at the junior high level, and ensure they have experiences that prepare them for high school,” she said. “When they have gaps, especially in marginalized communities, they may not have access to college courses that will get them fired up for university.”

 

Elder said middle school across the country needs to be rethought, saying that one place would be allowing for more after-school or extracurricular activities.

 

“We tend to take kids from a cozy one-classroom, elementary environment and put them basically in a high school but for 11-year-olds,” she said. “We need to build that relationship and school community and maintain the momentum they had in elementary school.”

 

Here’s what some attendees thought

 

Jeni Elflien, a parent of an elementary schooler and middle schooler, participated in the parent’s advisory committee group.

 

Seeking mental health support for one of her children has been a challenging experience saying that when she sought help from the schools “they flat out told me ‘our counselors are here for academic advisement.’”

 

The school offered referrals for mental health care, but Elflien said she wanted more mental support for kids in schools.

 

A long-time gap in facilities and mental health services for children was exacerbated during the pandemic. In Southern New Mexico, that’s meant longer waits, and difficulty finding someone covered by an insurance plan, Elflien said.

 

“When we actually found someone who was available for our child, it was $100 a week,” she said. “Fortunately, we are able to do that, but for other families, that’s not an option.”

 

In a 2020 report, 49% of parents across three school districts in Doña Ana county found they couldn’t access needed mental health care for their children.

 

Another parent, Jeremy Gonzales, said he appreciated the time to hear from all the candidates about their backgrounds and philosophies, adding he didn’t have a favorite.

 

“They’re all three strong candidates,” he said.

 

He admired that all three prioritized listening, saying that was good leadership.

 

“They all want to come in, get a feel of the pulse and what’s working well, and build on the strengths,” Gonzales said. “As opposed to coming in and trying to make sweeping changes.”

 

Caitlin Pfeifer, an elementary teacher in the district, said it was energizing to hear the candidates set high goals for achievement.

 

“Once you set high expectations for your students, and it’s expectations for everybody in the district,” Pfeifer said. “Generally, our kids will soar.”

 

 

Danielle Prokop is a reporter with Source NM. This article is republished from Source New Mexico under a Creative Commons license.