Legislative Finance Committee hears Mosquero school officials on rural funding, construction and student supports

MOSQUERO, N.M. — School and local officials from Mosquero told the Legislative Finance Committee on Wednesday that state funding rules, capital-outlay procedures and transportation and calendar requirements leave rural “microdistricts” with persistent gaps in services and facilities.

The Mosquero School District superintendent, Dr. Jonna Bridal, told legislators that the district had to increase an originally sized 19,000-square-foot building to 49,000 square feet to meet federal safety and special-education needs. “We got it to 49,000 square feet,” Bridal said, arguing the state’s adequacy formula does not fit very small schools.

The school board president and the district’s educators described a mix of strengths and limits: Mosquero reports a 100% graduation rate for students who attend in person, strong community engagement and hands-on programs, while also facing low math proficiency on some state measures, a very small tax base and limited bonding capacity.

Why it matters: Legislators who visited Mosquero for the Legislative Finance Committee’s field hearing heard concrete examples of how statewide rules interact with geographic isolation. Committee members said the testimony illustrated trade-offs between uniform statewide standards and local flexibility for small, remote districts.

Key facts and outcomes

- School construction and capital: Bridal and district staff told the committee that engineering and adequacy standards sometimes miss site-specific conditions in rural New Mexico. Bridal said inadequate geotechnical investigation led the district to buy additional land and build a new drainage pond after a major storm. District staff asked the committee to consider an owner’s representative for small projects; Bridal said an owner’s rep would reduce change orders and re-engineering costs.

- Bonding and local revenue: Mosquero leaders said the district is taxed near its capacity. The district reported a roughly $3.7 million bonding capacity and said it has been taxed historically at about 13 mills. That low base limits local capital options, they said, and constrains what a small community can add beyond the state-funded project.

- Space and program adequacy: Bridal described instances where the state’s space formula allowed only 600 square feet for a shop area; federal safety spacing for equipment made that footprint impractical. She and other district staff said adequacy standards provide insufficient space for special-education services and ancillary therapy required under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

- Calendar and instruction time: Mosquero administrators said their typical instructional day and local 4-day week structure fit local travel and labor needs. Superintendent Bridal told the committee that the district’s instructional day is about 7.75 hours and students average roughly 12 hours of weekly travel time; she said a state calendar submission tool that constrained permitted daily hours forced the district to cut instructional minutes across the year. That tool, Bridal said, prevented adding occasional instructional Fridays without reclassifying the calendar as a 5-day week.

- Transportation funding and vehicle types: District leaders described gaps in state transportation policy. Suburban/SUV vehicles are used to reach remote students because full-size school buses and drivers with commercial licenses (CDLs) are not always available; but the district said the Public Education Department (PED) does not fund SUVs at the same rate as buses and that PED does not fully fund SUV purchase or equipping costs. Bridal said finding CDL drivers is difficult because private-sector pay often exceeds what rural districts can offer.

- Programs, personnel and professional development: Mosquero staff highlighted several local programs as examples of rural innovation: a full‑day two‑day-per-week prekindergarten that the district runs to match community needs; a robust career and technical education (CTE) shop; and the Ed Fellows program, which places early-career educators in rural schools. Dr. Amy Jackson, Mosquero’s prekindergarten teacher, said, “We are the only program in the state that operates our 5 40 program as 2 full days as opposed to 4 half days.” District leaders warned that reductions or cost-sharing proposals for Ed Fellows funding would threaten their ability to continue growing local teacher pipelines.

- Online school and unit funding: The district said creating an online school was a practical step to increase operational revenue and provide alternative learning pathways; officials also cautioned that online students typically perform differently on test metrics and that masking rules can complicate small-cohort reporting. Mosquero staff said roughly 90 in‑seat students generate about 400 funding units under current formulas and that some microdistricts would be more stable if the state credited a higher baseline unit allocation for very small districts.

Quotes from presenters

- “We got it to 49,000 square feet,” — Dr. Jonna Bridal, superintendent, on redesigning the new school to meet safety and program needs.

- “We are the only program in the state that operates our 5 40 program as 2 full days as opposed to 4 half days,” — Dr. Amy Jackson, prekindergarten teacher, on the district’s PK model.

- “I think there may be less than 600 people in the whole county now,” — Mike Lewis, Harding County commissioner, describing local population constraints that affect the tax base and workforce.

Committee and staff reactions

Legislators asked for follow-up data on math proficiency, student counts and the fiscal impact of proposals that would raise baseline unit funding for microdistricts. Committee members and staff said they would analyze the cost of options — including an across‑the‑board per‑district adjustment or targeted supports for the smallest districts — and follow up with the district and PED staff.

What remains unresolved

Mosquero leaders asked for specific changes that would reduce financial and operational risk: clearer guidance and more flexibility from PED on calendar submissions; transportation funding that recognizes SUVs and small-route realities; fully funded Ed Fellows slots for small districts; and stronger owner’s‑representative or technical assistance built into the capital‑outlay process for remote projects. The district did not seek immediate rule changes at the hearing; officials asked the committee to consider policy options and to coordinate with PED, PSCOC/PSFA and the Public School Facilities Authority on implementation.

Next steps

Legislative staff said they would: (1) request data from PED and LFC analysts to model the fiscal cost of a higher baseline unit allocation for microdistricts; (2) follow up on transportation funding policy and SUV treatment; and (3) compile recommended capital‑project process changes, including costs for owner’s representatives or expanded technical assistance.

Ending note

Mosquero officials emphasized that local innovation — from mobile CTE ideas to adjusted prekindergarten schedules — has produced measurable local benefits but depends on targeted state flexibility and predictable funding. The Legislative Finance Committee’s on‑site hearing gave committee members direct examples of how statewide rules play out in a rural setting and flagged several policy options for further analysis.