Coaches, parents urge Las Cruces Public Schools to raise stipends and standardize pay

Several Las Cruces-area coaches and parents urged the Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education on Aug. 19 to raise and standardize stipends for extracurricular coaches, saying current pay levels make it difficult to recruit and retain experienced coaches.

The most vocal speakers at the meeting were high school coaches and parents from Centennial, Mayfield, Organ Mountain and Las Cruces high schools who said tennis coaches in particular are paid far less than comparable districts and that the district’s stipend schedule lacks transparent criteria.

"I feel utterly disrespected as a coach," said James Alba, Centennial High School case manager and varsity tennis coach, adding that he has been pushing the issue since 2022. Alba described stipend differences he said he had documented: "cheer, pom and dance… went from $1,800 to $3,600 and one went from $2,000 to $6,000," and he said some districts pay tennis coaches about $6,300 while LCPS tennis stipends were "$2,275." Alba said he has printed evidence and would share it with the board.

Coach Judy, who identified herself as a longtime Mayfield coach, recounted her hours and calculations and said coaching is a large time commitment. "As a coach… you put in at least 435 hours," she said, and added that paying the state minimum wage for that time would equate to roughly $6,204.

Organ Mountain head tennis coach Melanie Jorgensen said coaches are not asking for money out of self interest but for fairness and for students’ sake: "It's not about the money, but it's more about equal and transparency." Las Cruces High coach Bill Childress recommended raising stipends by $4,000 to make LCPS more competitive and to broaden the candidate pool for paid positions.

Julie Waco, president of NEA Las Cruces, told the board that bargaining addressed some of the inequities this summer. "We looked at pay inequities of club and activity sponsors and gave Cheer and Pom huge increases in their stipend pay to recognize the hard work they do," Waco said, adding that every stipend on the schedule received a 4% increase. She said NEA Las Cruces has formed a committee to analyze pay for clubs and sports across the state and has invited stakeholders to participate.

Parents asked that any increases be made effective as soon as possible or applied retroactively for last season; one parent asked specifically that negotiating teams "take another look at stipends and help us continue to build on our successful tennis programs."

Board members and NEA representatives said they would pursue further work through a labor-management committee and invited concerned stakeholders to provide data. The board did not take formal action on stipends at the Aug. 19 meeting and NEA said it will continue committee work and discussions with the district.

Ending: Board and union leaders said they will continue the conversation during bargaining and in a labor-management committee; the board’s next work session on Sept. 2 was flagged as an opportunity to revisit resolutions and district priorities raised during public comment.