As FGGAM reported HERE on April 25, 2024, the New Mexico Public Education Department (“PED”), with the full support of New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, enacted a new rule this year mandating all New Mexico school districts to adopt a five-day school week, even though state lawmakers approved legislation last year requiring students to be in school for 1,140 instructional hours – not a certain number of days.
Stan Rounds, Executive Director, New Mexico School Superintendents Association, pointed out that students in many rural school districts travel up to three hours per day to and from school and asserts that the PED “does not have a legal right to produce a rule that is contrary to state statute.”
Accordingly, more than 50 New Mexico school districts joined a lawsuit aiming to block the newly-enacted PED rule.
The Albuquerque Journal is reporting that New Mexico District Judge Dustin Hunter issued a temporary restraining order on Friday, May 3, 2024, temporarily barring the PED from enforcing the newly-enacted rule requiring New Mexico’s public schools to have at least 180 days of instruction each school year.
The ruling was in response to the April 18, 2024 lawsuit filed by the New Mexico School Superintendents Association.
The Albuquerque Journal report may be viewed HERE.
KOB 4 News reports that New Mexico Representative Gail ‘Missy’ Armstrong (R-District 49), who recently wrote an op-ed published by FGGAM regarding the PED’s new rule attempting to mandate five-day school weeks statewide, told KOB 4 News that she was really excited because the temporary restraining order will allow all of the schools currently operating with a four-day school week to complete annual budgets.
Representative Armstrong cited the example of Cimarron Municipal Schools, which have successfully operated under a four-day school week for decades, with the district in the top 20 statewide for test scores last year.
In response to District Judge Dustin Hunter’s temporary restraining against the PED on May 3, 2024, Stan Rounds, Executive Director of the New Mexico School Superintendents Association, pointed out that Cimarron Municipal Schools have operated with a four-day school week approved by the State of New Mexico every year since 1974.
The next hearing in this matter is scheduled for Monday, May 13, 2024, in Portales, New Mexico. In the meantime, four-day school weeks will continue to be allowed for the upcoming ’24-’25 school year.
The KOB 4 News article may be read HERE.
My brothers and sisters, with New Mexico’s schools shifting from an extended and often-disruptive masking and online-only learning approach, and back to in-class instruction following the end of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, and despite the reported effectiveness of the four-day school week by many rural school districts, the aforementioned temporary restraining order blocking a mandated five-day school week statewide seems to be prudent.
One thing remains clear. New Mexico’s K-12 students need consistency and wisdom in their public education!
Let’s continue to pray for the wisdom of our PED and school district leaders – that they would not operate from a mindset of superiority, but would be willing to listen to the parents, students, teachers, school board members, administrators, superintendents and elected governmental officials, instead of simply pushing ‘full steam’ ahead with a potentially short-sighted policy decision. ‘One-size-fits-all’ is not often the answer to life’s difficulties!
Let’s remember what scripture has to say about wisdom:
James 3:17-18 (NLT)
True Wisdom Comes from God
“But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.”
Praise Jesus forevermore!
