How can we help Taos Municipal Schools resolve its current challenges?

As a junior at Taos High School, the past semester has been disheartening at best. The school has lost staff, faces the ongoing consequences of financial incompetence by the district, and lives with infrastructure that should raise the eyebrows of any sane person.

Two teachers have resigned, and one has been placed on administrative leave. Such a loss of staff leaves the future of students in question; both in the short-term, and the long-term. For example, when students lose a secondlanguage teacher (especially when that’s the only teacher for that language), the ability for 3rd- or 4th-year language students to get a bilingual seal becomes uncertain. Thankfully, other language teachers can step in to organize a solution, but at the cost of time usually dedicated to their own students. This system of filling in the gap of missing teachers by stretching the school itself has consequences. More stress for the same pay isn’t the best way to retain teachers. While personnel issues rightfully cannot be discussed by the district, or any staff member, the consequences must be addressed, and events outside of personnel issues should be brought to the public’s attention.

The suspension of district staff has caused simple actions, such as purchasing supplies for extracurricular activities, to become convoluted, and I worry the impacts won’t stop there. But none of these issues have been addressed publicly with much specificity or clarity. Instead, they are discussed in private, behind closed-door meetings, and a public posting for a forensic auditor. The district serves the public, and the public deserves the right to know what’s going on within the administration.

Furthermore, the school itself has experienced multiple electrical faults forcing evacuations. Students are living in the constant question of whether or not a fire drill really is a drill, stripping valuable classroom time away from a generation of students already deprived of time.

In light of all this, I applaud the resilience of teachers who return to the district to continue to teach their students. An invaluable resource for the coming semester must be gratitude; both for our teachers and forces of good in our community. I must call upon my peers and the community at large to question the district, call out their shortcomings and identify solutions that can make it stronger.

Pessimism is an easy route to take when addressing the education system. While the American system has inherent flaws, we should focus on local change that most impacts us.