At a Legislative Education Study Committee meeting in Las Vegas, superintendents from Santa Rosa, Las Vegas City, Pecos and West Las Vegas said the state's investment in structured literacy training (LETRS) has strengthened classroom reading instruction but sustaining results requires more time, funding and planning.

The issue matters because New Mexico has expanded literacy training and is now moving implementation into secondary grades. Without additional resources to cover teacher time and substitutes, district leaders warned the training risks uneven uptake and recurring "catch up" cycles when trained teachers leave.

Superintendent Chris Gutierrez of West Las Vegas Schools said LETRS is "a good training" but added: "The hard part for it would probably be funding and time for our teachers to actually complete the training." Superintendent Deborah Sena Holton of Pecos called the training "powerful" and said the district had to be creative because "we have a shortage of subs." Melissa Sandoval, superintendent for Las Vegas City Schools, said LETRS-trained teachers were concentrated in higher-performing buildings: "The teachers who are LETRS trained are the schools and where we are spotlight schools." Superintendent Martin Madrid of Santa Rosa noted early results and cautioned that many of the CTE and engagement programs that keep students in school rely on year-to-year grants.

Panelists described three recurring constraints: (1) time in the school day and year to complete LETRS modules, which contain both online and face-to-face components; (2) limited substitute availability, forcing some districts to rely on teachers' personal time; and (3) turnover after districts invest in training. "When you train people and then they leave, and then you have to play the catch up game," Madrid said.

Superintendents outlined local approaches to those constraints. One district uses its four-day school week Fridays for training and pays stipends from local "windmill" funds for staff who attend on off days. Las Vegas City Schools said it applied for a comprehensive literacy grant to add school-based coaches to support classroom implementation and build capacity beyond one-off workshops.

Several panelists also addressed English learner (EL) students. Sandoval and others emphasized that LETRS supports core language domains. As Sandoval put it, LETRS "supports all language development, regardless of the subgroup of students," but she and others urged that biliteracy and bilingual-special-education needs be explicitly addressed in any statewide rollout.

District leaders asked the committee to consider targeted funding for substitutes, paid time for teachers to complete LETRS, and sustained coach positions rather than short-term grants. They emphasized the difference between completing training and embedding practices in school schedules and coaching cycles.

The panel did not take formal action. Superintendents said they would continue to apply for competitive literacy grants and to identify local funding to maintain coaching and stipend programs.

For now, district leaders framed LETRS as an evidence-based step that needs matched investment: training alone is not sufficient without regular in-school coaching, substitute coverage and policies that account for teacher turnover.