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Board approves one-time lease-fund allocation to expand Summer Institute professional development
Summary
The board approved a one-time lease-fund allocation to expand a June Summer Institute featuring national presenters and to compensate teachers for attendance. Staff estimated a roughly $55,000 presenter budget and targeted 200 teacher participants; the superintendent will finalize allocations.
The Los Alamos Public Schools board voted Feb. 27 to approve a one-time allocation from lease funds to expand the district's Summer Institute professional development and bring national presenters on site.
District staff said the primary goal is to reach more teachers with high-quality, focused instruction tied to the district strategic plan. The proposal asked for funds to bring five national presenters (staff estimated roughly $10,000 per speaker including travel, a total speaker budget of about $55,000 as a high-end estimate), provide supplies and meals, and compensate up to 200 teachers at daily contract rates for three days of attendance the first week of June. Staff said the plan would prioritize district teachers and, if space remained, offer participation to neighboring Northern New Mexico districts.
Superintendent Guy and staff emphasized flexibility: the board's motion gives the superintendent authority to allocate final funding into the appropriate professional-development accounts and to reallocate any remaining funds to other PD needs. The board also heard that the district currently holds approximately $12,731,853 in lease-fund balance and that prior Summer Institute spending had been about $150,000 in earlier years; staff said this targeted expansion would be an incremental request above the usual PD budget.
Board members praised the PLC work in math and supported broader department-level rollout. Several trustees also asked about equity across sites, capacity caps and whether attendance would be prioritized by school or first-come, first-served; staff said they would use sign-ups, collect site information and, if demand exceeded capacity, either open additional sessions or prioritize to ensure broad school representation.
The motion passed with a roll call vote: President Colgan, Vice President Wyman, Secretary Copeland, Member Spector and Member Adams voted yes. The motion authorizes the superintendent to finalize allocations and use any remaining funds for professional development.
Why it matters: Staff presented the funding as an investment in instructional capacity linked to measured improvements (as seen in the middle-school presentation) and the district's strategic plan. The board approved the one-time allocation and granted administrative flexibility to finalize dollar amounts and account transfers.
