LCPS committee holds first meeting as search for new superintendent begins
The Las Cruces Public Schools search committee held its first meeting with the goal of finding a candidate for superintendent.
The committee, made up of teachers, parents, business leaders and staff, met Thursday morning to discuss the qualities and skill sets they’re looking for in a new leader.
Former Superintendent Stan Rounds, resigned in June. The district still has not said what led to his decision.
The committee met in the Performing Arts Auditorium at Las Cruces High School where they completed several exercises together to find common ground.
“The most important thing is to allow everyone to voice their opinion. I think we had a lack of transparency not so much from the board but maybe because of everything. That was going on and people felt left out and we want to be all-inclusive we want parents, students, administrators, staff all classified and certified and community leaders to participate, LCPS Board President Maria Flores said.
Among the topics discussed, the group focused heavily on teacher morale and the state-mandated PARCC test.
“We can’t just be focused on one big test. Right now the big focus is doing well on the PARCC test at the end of the year and that is just one test. That’s the focus of the teacher evaluation, the school grading, it is just one test that is a big determinant whether one teacher is effective or not effective or if a school has a passing grade or doesn’t have a passing grade,” Bruce Hartman, President of NEA Las Cruces said.
Hartman says he hopes the new superintendent can act as buffer between the school district and the Public Edication Deparment to work with state legislators to develop better legislation regarding mandated state testing. He adds the pressure from the PARCC test creates stress that affects teacher morale.
“I’ve seen the negative effects of an assessment like PARCC. And I’ve seen the students go through the extreme amount of stress because they’re seen as a test score not as an individual. And I think that’s a huge violation of the trust of the relationship we create between the teachers and students. So what PARCC does is it refocuses our energy as educators and the student’s energy as student and what it does is focusing on bubbling in letters,” Hartman said.
The committee will hold an upcoming forum and hold at least three more meetings. Separately, the Board of Education will meet to discuss the qualities they’re looking for.
After the information is gathered from Thursday’s meeting, the district will create a job description for a national advertisement to be posted next week. The hiring process will take several months but the district is optimistic they will hire a new superintendent by the end of the fall semester.
