Lee County superintendents urge sustained funding for CTE, mental-health services and teacher retention

Three Lee County superintendents told the Legislative Finance Committee on Sept. 1 that state funding and policy changes are needed to expand career-technical education, speed delivery of test data and shore up local mental-health services.

"We just graduated the largest high school in our history — 722 students — and we've earned nearly 11,000 industry credentials this fall," Jean Strickland, superintendent of Hobbs Municipal Schools, told the committee. He described a district of just over 10,020 students, roughly 1,300 staff and a graduation rate of 87 percent, and said attendance has improved 11 percent over two years.

Pam Quinones, superintendent of Lovington Schools, asked the committee for sustained funding for school-based mental-health services and substance-use prevention, saying: "In the past 6 weeks, Lovington has lost 3 young lives to suicide." Quinones, whose district serves about 3,286 students and includes a specialized LACES autism center, said many students have required inpatient treatment and families are traveling out of the region to find care.

Bruce Hatch, superintendent of Eunice Schools, emphasized rural constraints: small overall enrollment (about 741 K–12 students), transportation barriers to sharing programs with nearby districts, and a growing population of monolingual learners. Hatch said the district plans local pay incentives for bilingual staff and is partnering with Texas providers to expand credentialing opportunities for students.

The superintendents praised recent legislative investments in secondary education and career-technical funding but urged lawmakers to address several shortfalls: the timing of statewide accountability data (which Strickland said arrives "too little, too late" to inform instruction), the gap between one-time grants and recurring operating costs for CTE programs, and the need to align funding to local labor markets.

Quinones asked for flexibility on school calendars and funding based on hours rather than fixed days, and for more sustained support for teacher recruitment and retention — she singled out HB 256 (paid residency year) as a helpful step for teacher preparation. Strickland urged the committee to consider performance-based or targeted funding for high-cost CTE programs rather than relying only on unit-value allocations that, he warned, can widen disparities among districts.

The committee signaled appetite for follow-up. Members requested a short dashboard of key indicators and asked district leaders to provide more detailed budget and cost data for both startup and sustaining phases of local CTE programs. The LFC will incorporate those materials into October–December budget work ahead of the next session.

Quinones closed her remarks by stressing community responsibility and the need for partners: "Lovington is ready to do the work. What we need are partners who will stand with us and ensure that our students have every opportunity to thrive socially, mentally, physically."