Education saw significant seismic activity on both the state and local levels in 2024.
Albuquerque Public Schools in February chose Dr. Gabriella Durán Blakey as the next superintendent of New Mexico’s largest school district. She took over from Superintendent Scott Elder, whose contract expired June 30.
Blakey became acting superintendent in the spring and officially started the position July 1. A 20-year APS veteran, she took over the top job after serving as the chief operations officer for the district. Blakey was previously a social studies and English Language Learners teacher, an assistant principal, a principal and an associate superintendent.
She was also assistant superintendent for curriculum and professional development with Santa Fe Public Schools.
Board of Education President Danielle Gonzales touted Blakey’s commitment to vision and her tendency toward innovation among the qualities that made her the right candidate for the position. Blakey’s two-year contract includes an annual salary of $295,000.
At the state level, dozens of school districts and charter schools rebelled against a new school calendar mandate by suing the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED). They charged that the department didn’t have the authority to order all schools to be in session for at least 180 days of instruction.
Rural and charter schools said the mandate was onerous and didn’t take into account the financial and other burdens it would place on schools that had been operating on a four-day week. The PED contended it has authority under state law to make the change and that the extra instructional days are necessary to improve education in the state.
Judge Dustin K. Hunter in Roswell issued a temporary restraining order in May preventing the PED from enacting the rule. The relief came too late for some schools to change their calendars, including ABQ Charter Academy, which chose to stick with the four-day week and will be in session 45 out of 52 weeks this school year.
Before the suit was filed, ABQ Charter Academy Executive Director Erik Bose told City Desk ABQ the compressed calendar meant students returned to class this fall just six weeks after the 2023-2024 school year ended.
After Hunter’s restraining order, each side filed a motion for summary judgment, asking the judge to rule quickly in its favor. Hunter ordered them into mediation, and in July, they abandoned a hearing, implying that a potential agreement was imminent.
No agreement was announced, and Hunter heard the motions in late September, indicating he expected to issue a ruling within a month.
As of last week, no decision had been made, said Barry Massey, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts.
In other local news, APS continues to have incidents with firearms at schools, though with a lower frequency than last year.
“By my records, we had six incidents involving eight firearms during the 2023 fall semester,” district spokesperson Martin Salazar said, adding that one of those incidents involved an adult and not a student.
For the full school year, he said, there were 10 incidents involving 12 firearms at APS schools. Two of those incidents involved adults and not students, Salazar said.