Taos district outlines progress and budget complications for Full Service Community Schools grant

Reneta Mondragon, associate superintendent for Taos Municipal Schools, gave the board an end‑of‑school‑year report on the district’s Full Service Community Schools federal grant, describing program growth across five school sites and ongoing budgeting and staffing challenges.

The grant’s stated goals include districtwide implementation of the community‑schools model, a continuum of services between schools and community partners, enhanced student success, stronger families and communities, and food‑sovereignty programs. Mondragon said all five participating schools now have site coordinators and dedicated community‑schools rooms, and that after‑school programming and lending libraries are operating at multiple sites.

The district added two schools to the full‑service program scope this grant cycle and received state grant funds that will serve as part of the required local match. Mondragon said, “Our portion is about 10% of the grant,” referring to the district’s cash match requirement. She told the board the district is working to quantify and document match contributions from community partners, in‑kind donations and district spending.

Most of the presentation focused on implementation milestones and operational hurdles. Program accomplishments cited included: establishing greenhouses…