Residents overwhelmingly opposed to possible school changes

Area residents at Tuesday’s school board meeting were overwhelmingly opposed to Clovis Municipal Schools’ plans to close and repurpose campuses.

During the “open forum” portion of the session, eight people spoke to the board with concerns ranging from teacher/student ratios to classrooms being located in portable classrooms that wouldn’t stand up to eastern New Mexico weather.

The room was filled to capacity with another two-dozen people waiting outside when the meeting began.

Here’s a summary of some of the community concerns:

• Dodie Carter told board members “We’ll have students moving from the safety of a brick building like Cameo (Elementary) to another school that may have portables (classrooms).”

Carter was also concerned about property values that could plummet if schools were no longer in use or used less frequently. Her words brought applause from the audience.

• Fabian Amaro, a parent of children who attend Lockwood Elementary, said the proposed changes would also change CMS’ teacher-to-student ratio negatively. He also took issue with longer bus trips for students who could no longer attend neighborhood schools.

• Jessica Lantz alleged there was no input from anyone from Cameo Elementary during the process of decision making.

• Dianna Boatman called for “prayerful decision making.”

“I hope each person who will be making the decision will do so in the Holy Spirit,” Boatman said.

• Juanita Arzola spoke of her four grandchildren who attend Lockwood Elementary, which would transition to pre-k only if proposals are accepted. She said the school has been good for her grandchildren. She is concerned for their future with the proposed changes.

• Yvette Lozano expressed concern about the stress and anxiety the proposed changes have brought her.

• Shaun Schiller said he didn’t believe “the welfare of the kids is being taken into account.”

“I haven’t heard how this will benefit the kids. Moving kids won’t help,” Schiller said.

Russ said parental input will be sought on the matter after spring break. No decisions are expected until the board meets again on April 23.

As the meeting began there were 15 or 20 people left outside due to occupation limits of the board meeting room.

Kaylee Wilder was one of those people.

“I have one child who no longer attends Clovis schools. I drive her to Grady,” Wilder said in a phone conversation after the board meeting.

Wilder said she’s a mental health intern specializing in children and teenagers. She also taught kindergarten at Cameo for nine years.

“I wanted to go to this meeting because I know of a lot of parents and families who are concerned. A lot of the Cameo area is lower income and the houses are close by (the school),” Wilder said.

Wilder noted there’s concern about buses getting kids to where they need to be on time, not having enough bus drivers.

“With all the big changes Clovis schools have been going through regularly, we’re concerned about putting more kids together and all the behavior problems, violence and bullying won’t get better,” Wilder said.

Wilder said she wanted to be in the school board meeting “but they hit capacity.”

She said she believes there were other places that could have been used for the meeting so more people could have attended.

“We just would like to have a voice,” Wilder said.

Lorrina Lopez, another parent who didn’t get to go inside for the school board meeting, has a daughter who used to go to Cameo and another who still does.

“I’m a parent that’s very involved with my kids. That’s the only reason I wanted to go to the meeting,” Lopez said.

Lopez alleges Cameo parents haven’t been acknowledged by district officials.

“They didn’t let us know about changes. The changes, changes in busing. Just the communication with us, just making changes without really consulting us,” Lopez said.

Lopez added maybe there’s something Cameo parents could do to help, “for our children’s sake.”

“We’re concerned about teacher/student ratios with putting the kids in bigger schools with larger populations,” Lopez said.