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Las Cruces Public Schools, New Mexico, elections

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Las Cruces Public Schools
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District details
School board members: 5
Students: 23,631 (2022-2023)
Schools: 40 (2022-2023)
Website: Link

Las Cruces Public Schools is a school district in New Mexico (Dona Ana County). During the 2023 school year, 23,631 students attended one of the district's 40 schools.

This page provides information regarding school board members, election rules, finances, academics, policies, and more details about the district.

Elections

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Las Cruces Public Schools school board District 1

General election

General election for Las Cruces Public Schools school board District 1

Incumbent Ray Jaramillo won election in the general election for Las Cruces Public Schools school board District 1 on February 7, 2017.

Candidate
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Ray Jaramillo (Nonpartisan)

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Las Cruces Public Schools school board District 2

General election

General election for Las Cruces Public Schools school board District 2

Incumbent Terrie Dallman won election in the general election for Las Cruces Public Schools school board District 2 on February 7, 2017.

Candidate
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Terrie Dallman (Nonpartisan)

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Las Cruces Public Schools school board District 3

General election

General election for Las Cruces Public Schools school board District 3

Incumbent Maria Flores won election in the general election for Las Cruces Public Schools school board District 3 on February 7, 2017.

Candidate
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Maria Flores (Nonpartisan)

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Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education District 4

General election

General election for Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education District 4

Incumbent Maury Castro won election in the general election for Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education District 4 on February 3, 2015.

Candidate
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Maury Castro (Nonpartisan)

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Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education District 5

General election

General election for Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education District 5

Incumbent Edward Frank won election in the general election for Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education District 5 on February 3, 2015.

Candidate
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Edward Frank (Nonpartisan)

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Election rules

 

Election dates and frequency

See also: Rules governing school board election dates and timing

School board general elections in New Mexico are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, every two years in odd-numbered years.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: New Mexico Statute Section 1-22-3

Recent or upcoming election dates for all public school districts in the state

Below are the recent/upcoming dates for all public school districts in the state. There may be exceptions to these dates for specific districts because of local charters and district-specific exceptions and carve-outs.

  • Filing deadline date: August 26, 2025
  • General election date: November 4, 2025

Election system

School board members in New Mexico are elected through nonpartisan general elections without primaries.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: New Mexico Statute Section 1-22-3

Party labels on the ballot

See also: Rules governing party labels in school board elections

School board elections in New Mexico are nonpartisan, which means party labels do not appear on the ballot for school board candidates. New Mexico Statute Section 1-22-3(B) states, "A regular local election shall be a nonpartisan election, and the names of all candidates shall be listed on the ballot with no party or slate designation."

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: New Mexico Statute Section 1-22-3

Winning an election

The school board candidate that receives the largest number of votes in the general election is elected to office.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: New Mexico Constitution Article VII Section 5

Term length and staggering

School board members have four-year terms.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: New Mexico Statute 22-5-8

School districts elect as close as to half of their school board members as possible at one general election, and the other half at a general election two years later. Upon the formation of a newly created, three school board members will be elected for two-year terms and the other two school board members will be elected for four-year terms to ensure staggered elections. Albuquerque School District is the only district with seven board members, and elects four school board members at one general election and the other three school board members two years later.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: New Mexico Statute 22-4-13

Representation: at large vs. by sub-district

School board members are elected either at large or from single-member election subdistricts, depending on the size of the school district. As of 2022, 28 districts (31%) had board members elected by single-member district and 61 districts (69%) had board members elected by at-large.

School board members in districts having a population in excess of 16,000 must be elected from single-member subdistricts.

School boards in districts with less than 16,000 population have the option of establishing single-member board subdistricts or continuing to elect members at large.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: New Mexico Statute 22-5-1.1 & New Mexico School Boards Association Handbook Chapter II Section A

Filing deadlines and swearing-in dates

School board candidates must file declarations of candidacy by 5:00 PM on the 70th day prior to the election.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: New Mexico Statute 1-22-7

School board candidates can file between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM on the 70th day prior to the election.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: New Mexico Statute 1-22-7

Newly elected school board members officially take office on the first day of January following their election.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: New Mexico Statute 1-2-18

 


About the district

School board

Las Cruces Public Schools consists of five members serving four-year terms. To find information about school board meetings, click here.

List of school board members
NameSeatYear assumed officeYear term ends
Pamela CortDistrict 22027
Edward FrankDistrict 52027
Patrick NolanDistrict 12027
Robert WoffordDistrict 320222027
Teresa TenorioDistrict 420192027

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District map

Overlapping state house districts

The table was limited to the lower chamber because it provides the most granularity. State house districts tend to be more numerous and therefore smaller than state senate or U.S. House districts. This provides an impression of the partisan affiliations in the area.

Budget

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[1]

Revenue, 2020-2021
SOURCE AMOUNT AMOUNT PER STUDENT PERCENT
Federal: $42,228,000 $1,781 14%
Local: $40,362,000 $1,702 13%
State: $218,566,000 $9,218 73%
Total: $301,156,000 $12,701
Expenditures, 2020-2021
TYPE AMOUNT AMOUNT PER STUDENT PERCENT
Total Expenditures: $291,104,000 $12,277
Total Current Expenditures: $259,444,000 $10,941
Instructional Expenditures: $151,631,000 $6,394 52%
Student and Staff Support: $40,768,000 $1,719 14%
Administration: $26,583,000 $1,121 9%
Operations, Food Service, Other: $40,462,000 $1,706 14%
Total Capital Outlay: $25,822,000 $1,089
Construction: $20,712,000 $873
Total Non El-Sec Education & Other: $320,000 $13
Interest on Debt: $4,003,000 $168

Academic performance

Each year, state and local education agencies use tests and other standards to assess student proficiency. Although the data below was published by the U.S. Department of Education, proficiency measurements are established by the states. As a result, proficiency levels are not comparable between different states and year-over-year proficiency levels within a district may not be comparable because states may change their proficiency measurements. To protect student privacy, percentages are reported as ranges for groups of 300 students or fewer. If five or fewer students were included in a data set, the data will display as "PS."[2]

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific Islander (%) Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native American (%) Two or More Races (%) White (%)
2020-2021 42 >=50 <50 30-34 >=50 PS 55-59
2018-2019 18 45-49 14 15 10-14 33
2016-2017 20 50-54 14 16 20-24 34
2015-2016 20 50-54 15 16 15-19 33
2014-2015 17 50-54 14 14 10-14 29
2013-2014 42 70-74 35 37 35-39 60
2012-2013 41 70-74 38 36 50-54 59
2011-2012 41 65-69 41 35 50-54 60
2010-2011 39 65-69 35 33 40-44 59

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific Islander (%) Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native American (%) Two or More Races (%) White (%)
2020-2021 68 >=50 <50 55-59 >=50 PS 85-89
2018-2019 33 60-64 34 27 35-39 51
2016-2017 30 60-64 27 25 25-29 46
2015-2016 27 65-69 26 23 25-29 43
2014-2015 25 50-54 27 20 20-24 41
2013-2014 52 70-74 49 47 50-54 69
2012-2013 52 70-74 55 47 50-54 70
2011-2012 53 70-74 53 47 60-64 71
2010-2011 49 70-74 45 43 50-54 67

The following table shows the graduation rate of district students each school year:

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific Islander (%) Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native American (%) Two or More Races (%) White (%)
2019-2020 86 >=90 90-94 85 60-79 90
2018-2019 84 >=80 80-89 84 60-79 88
2017-2018 86 >=90 80-89 85 >=50 90
2016-2017 86 >=80 80-89 84 60-79 91
2015-2016 80 >=80 75-79 78 60-79 86
2014-2015 75 >=80 60-69 73 40-59 79
2013-2014 68 70-79 60-64 66 40-59 74
2012-2013 67 60-79 60-69 62 40-59 81
2011-2012 71 >=80 70-79 67 >=50 82
2010-2011 71 >=80 70-79 67 60-79 80

Students

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[3]

Year Enrollment Year-to-year change (%)
2022-2023 23,631 -0.6
2021-2022 23,771 0.3
2020-2021 23,711 -3.4
2019-2020 24,517 -0.8
2018-2019 24,703 0.4
2017-2018 24,603 -0.8
2016-2017 24,804 1.2
2015-2016 24,513 -2.5
2014-2015 25,126 0.0
2013-2014 25,130 -1.0
2012-2013 25,384 0.1
2011-2012 25,353 -0.5
2010-2011 25,488 2.4
2009-2010 24,872 2.4
2008-2009 24,280 -0.4
2007-2008 24,384 1.9
2006-2007 23,917 0.4
2005-2006 23,824 0.4
2004-2005 23,717 2.6
2003-2004 23,101 1.3
2002-2003 22,800 1.7
2001-2002 22,414 1.0
2000-2001 22,185 -0.5
1999-2000 22,306 0.0
Racial Demographics, 2022-2023
RACE Las Cruces Public Schools (%) New Mexico K-12 STUDENTS (%)
American Indian/Alaska Native 0.7 10.3
Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander 0.9 1.3
Black 1.9 1.8
Hispanic 78.6 63.4
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 0.3 0.1
Two or More Races 1.1 2.4
White 16.5 20.8

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Staff

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[4]

As of the 2022-2023 school year, Las Cruces Public Schools had 1,513.04 full-time classroom teachers. The student-teacher ratio was 15.62.

Teachers, 2022-2023 school year
TYPE NUMBER OF TEACHERS
Prekindergarten: 60.00
Kindergarten: 68.50
Elementary: 537.75
Secondary: 571.64
Total: 1,513.04

Las Cruces Public Schools employed 22.00 district administrators and 94.00 school administrators as of the 2022-2023 school year.

Administrators, 2022-2023 school year
TYPE NUMBER OF ADMINISTRATORS
District Administrators: 22.00
District Administrative Support: 0.00
School Administrators: 94.00
School Administrative Support: 107.00
Other staff, 2022-2023 school year
TYPE NUMBER OF OTHER STAFF
Instructional Aides: 433.75
Instruc. Coordinators & Supervisors: 34.50
Total Guidance Counselors: 42.00
Elementary Guidance Counselors: 18.00
Secondary Guidance Counselors: 24.00
Librarians/Media Specialists: 11.00
Library/Media Support: 0.00
Student Support Services: 46.00
Other Support Services: 303.79

Schools

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[5]

Las Cruces Public Schools operates 40 schools. They are listed below in alphabetical order.
List of schools
SCHOOL NAMENUMBER OF STUDENTSGRADES
Alameda Elementary355PK-5
Arrowhead Park Medical Academy09-12
Booker T. Washington395PK-5
Camino Real Middle9656-8
Centennial High School1,6159-12
Central Elementary163PK-5
Cesar Chavez Elementary508PK-2
Columbia Elementary225PK-5
Conlee Elementary422PK-5
Desert Hills Elementary559PK-5
Dona Ana Elementary399PK-5
Early College High School09-12
East Picacho Elementary495PK-5
Fairacres Elementary405PK-5
Hermosa Heights Elementary401PK-5
Highland Elementary744PK-5
Hillrise Elementary446PK-5
Jornada Elementary490PK-5
Las Cruces High1,7879-12
Loma Heights Elementary505PK-5
Lynn Middle5346-8
Mac Arthur Elementary353PK-5
Mayfield High1,4219-12
Mesa Middle8036-8
Mesilla Elementary275PK-5
Mesilla Park Elementary353PK-5
Mesilla Valley Leadership Academy1006-8
Monte Vista Elementary718PK-5
Organ Mountain High School1,9809-12
Picacho Middle7276-8
Rio Grande Preparatory Institute1449-12
Sierra Middle7996-8
Sonoma Elementary748PK-5
Sunrise Elementary3623-5
Tombaugh Elementary585PK-5
University Hills Elementary358PK-5
Valley View Elementary371PK-5
Vista Middle6026-8
White Sands Elementary275PK-8
Zia Middle6886-8

About school boards

Education legislation in New Mexico

Bills are monitored by BillTrack50 and sorted by action history.

See also

School Boards Education Policy Local Politics New Mexico
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External links

  • Office website
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  • Footnotes