New Year, Same Commitment to Student Success
Tom Burris
Superintendent, Truth or Consequences Municipal Schools
It’s hard to believe the summer vacation will soon end and that school, classes and all the related activities will soon resume.
I sincerely hope our students enjoyed a great summer with family and friends, having a productive and educational respite from the day-to-day routine of our school year. At the T or C Municipal School District, it is our hope that students are looking forward to the changes a new school year will bring, including new teachers, new challenges and new personal goals to achieve.
Rest assured that with the changes and new experiences your child will face in a few short weeks, at the district level, our resolve to quality education remains unwavering, and our commitment to student success and satisfaction remains our ultimate goal. As in years past, we will continue to concentrate on student attendance and holding students fully accountable for their personal behavior.
No student should ever face his or her time at school with trepidation. The district offers services to those in need and is prepared to assist parents in helping students to be successful in all ways.
Parents remain the single-most influential individuals in the life—and the education—of their children. Educators see your youngsters a few hours per day, and only nine months of the year. That’s why your influence and guidance is vital to their well-being and future.
Here at the T or C Municipal School District, we have spent a considerable amount of time preparing for the 2010-2011 school year. For two weeks in June, our Curriculum Alignment Team worked to make our K-12 math, language arts, social studies and science courses more functional and efficient. The team will be sharing its findings and recommendations with the entire staff this fall.
I can say without hesitation that the opportunities available to our student are second to none. We have outstanding teachers and a support staff who cares about students—both academically and socially. We encourage students to be involved with athletics, clubs and activities. For a relatively small district, we offer a great variety of opportunities for the young people. Last year, participants in FFA achieved success at the state and national level, science and math students built a payload that was taken to space aboard a rocket launched at the Spaceport, and there were memorable individual and team accomplishments in athletics. Scholarship benefiting our students exceeded $100,000.
On the business end, public education in New Mexico continues to reel from the state’s ongoing budget crunch. As a result, we have trimmed positions and reassigned personnel. A new report complied from 60 of the 89 school districts (65 percent) indicates nearly 1,400 personnel cuts have been made among these schools in recent months.
Without exception, the personnel adjustments and tough decisions we have made in the district have been based on protecting and maintaining our education jobs. We must make every effort to remain financially strong and to offer as many programs for students as possible. Despite these daunting fiscal challenges, we have kept our class sizes below state guidelines and have classroom aides in many areas.
Finally, with school activities beginning, I encourage you to attend school events and support our youth.
As always, if you have any suggestions or comments, please let me know.
