Las Cruces superintendent highlights literacy gains, attendance targets and funding shortfalls

LAS CRUCES — Superintendent Reese of Las Cruces Public Schools told the Legislative Education Study Committee on Oct. 3 that the district has recorded measurable gains in literacy and elementary math while still confronting staffing, funding and facility challenges.

Reese opened the presentation by noting LCPS serves roughly 21,000–22,000 students across 39 schools and described a tiered support model that directs more instructional hours and coaching to schools with greater needs. “Every decision we make is guided by the belief that every student, staff member, and school community deserves to thrive,” Reese said.

The district has adopted I‑Ready K–12 reading and math screeners and uses site support teams and partnerships with WestEd and Everest Analytics to monitor progress. Reese said initial I‑Ready results showed elementary reading moving from just under 20% on grade level at the start of the year to over 50% by year end; elementary math proficiency rose from about 10% to nearly 46% by May in the cited implementation year. She said middle and high school growth has been more moderate and remains an implementation focus.

On attendance, Reese told the committee LCPS’s chronic absenteeism rate was 33% at the end of the 2023–24 school year, set a 2024–25 target of 17% (a 50% reduction), and reported the rate at roughly 30% by the end of 2024–25. “When you think about 3%, that represents many, many of our students that we were able to reengage back into our schools,” she said, noting mentorship and home‑visit efforts with NMSU social workers as contributors to progress.

Reese also described investments in safety and wellness: a visitor‑management and camera platform (Verkada), weapon‑detection systems at secondary schools, expanded mental‑health and counseling supports, and scratch‑cooked meals served to more than 12,000 students.

But she and other panelists repeatedly returned to funding constraints. Reese said LCPS currently supplements transportation out of its operations budget by “close to $3,000,000,” and identified unstable and one‑time funding streams — including federal positions funded by grants — as barriers to long‑term planning.

On capital needs, Reese warned of the cost of maintaining and replacing aging facilities, citing a projected Mayfield High School rebuild with multi‑hundred‑million dollar costs and noting the district’s share of new construction can be a substantial local burden.

Panelists from other districts echoed the funding squeeze and emphasized local variation: some small districts reported modest SEG (State Equalization Guarantee) increases but lost ground after higher insurance, property and liability costs or when enrollment declines reduced formula allocations.

The superintendent closed by asking legislators to consider recurring funding for human capital — coaches, social workers and interventionists — and to be mindful of how one‑time grants can produce programs that are difficult to sustain when those funds end. “Unstable funding streams make it difficult to plan,” she said.

The committee followed the presentation with questions on transportation, bilingual supports, structured literacy training and capital projects; Reese stood for questions and said LCPS will provide more detailed data on requests from legislators. The panel was scheduled to continue at the Stan Fulton Center later in the week.