School District Digest- Feb. 17, 2026

Listening & Engaging
Written By Nicole Bradshaw

Planning in Progress- School Board Work Session

School Board Work Sessions are meetings where the Board convenes to discuss, debate, ask questions, gather information, and generally work on different items and issues before decisions are officially made. In fact, no official decisions are made at these meetings. (Hint: this is the place to be if you want to participate in school district governance)

The focus of this month’s School Board Work Session was almost exclusively on fine-tuning the Articles of Incorporation for the soon-to-be Los Lunas Schools Foundation 501(c)(3) Nonprofit that Los Lunas Schools is putting together. The purpose of this foundation is so that the school district can legally accept donations from the public in order to fund student scholarships and other projects throughout the district as needs may be. Albuquerque Public Schools already has a similar foundation set up.

It was decided that the agreed-upon Articles of Incorporation will be sent to District lawyers for review before final approval.

Matters in Motion- School Board Meeting

School Board Meetings are the meetings where official business is conducted. Decisions are made official, policies approved, reports are made final, and business is carried out in these meetings. There are several different parts to these meetings, beginning after the official opening of the meeting: Public Commentary, Approval of Consent Items, the Superintendent’s Report, any official discussions and presentations the Board may have requested, any official recognitions or awards the Board may have to present, Board Commendations, Requests for New Business, and the Announcement of Upcoming Meetings.

Public Commentary

Two individuals addressed the School Board during this meeting:

  • Speaker 1 asked a blessing upon the school district

  • Speaker 2 encouraged the School Board to refocus their efforts on the Los Lunas Schools Foundation

Consent Items

Consent Items are the routine business items that the School Board approves to keep things running. This month’s items included:

  • Approving the minutes of the last Board Meeting

  • Approving the Student Achievement Award Nominees

  • Approval of the January Budget Report

  • Approval of Requested Budget Adjustments

  • Approval of Purchases

  • Approval of Construction Contracts

  • Approval of Application for NMDOT Local Government Road Fund funding

  • Approval of Memorandum of Understanding (an agreement to work together) between La Felicidad and Los Lunas Schools

Superindendent’s Report

The Superintendent’s Report is a monthly report given by our Superintendent- Susan D. Chavez- highlighting different things that have taken place in the school district in the last month.

  • Jeff Sanders and Mike Melinda from Whitfield Wildlife Center presented

    • They would love to host more field trips for Los Lunas Schools Students!

      • Field Trips are aligned with Next Generation Science Standards

      • Programs for field trips are 2-3 hours long

      • Transportation to and from the site is paid for by WWC

  • Construction Update- Sandy Traczyk on behalf of Tifanny McMinn

    • Valencia Elementary and Tomé Elementary both had sensory and inclusive equipment installed on the playgrounds

    • LLHS Performing Arts Center Sound System and Lighting is installed and ready to be programmed

    • Peralta Elementary has had lighting installed in the soon-to-be parking lot, canopies have been installed on the playground, an asphalt walking track has been added, and the Pre-K playground is almost complete!

    • Ann Parish Elementary is entering the final design phase!

  • Budget and Finance Update- Sandy Traczyk, CFO

    • Everything is on track for this point in the school year

    • Annual Audit is expected to be ready next month

    • Special Audit is delayed due to other commitments the firm has

  • Other- Susan D. Chavez

    • Los Lunas Schools will be switching from PowerSchool to Synergy for Student Records

    • LLHS hosted the annual Student Council State Conference with success!

    • All of our School Board Members received different recongnitions from the New Mexico School Board Association for their commitment to their training

Other Official Business

A motion was put forward to move to two official School Board Meetings per month, along with two Board Work Sessions. The motion passed. Beginning in April, there will now be two Board Work Sessions and two Board Meetings per month.

Board Commendations

  • Century High School rocked their Public Education Department review!

  • Praise for the cleanliness of LLHS campus for the State Student Council Conference

  • Praise for the organization of the State Student Council Conference

  • Praise for the food served at the State Student Council Conference

  • Praise for Ms. Traczyk and the incredible job she does as CFO!

  • Praise for the recruitment efforts by Andrew Saiz to fill open employment positions

New Business

No new business was requested.

Upcoming Meetings

With the updated meeting schedule, forthcoming, please check the website.

Works Cited

In order to view the recording of the official School Board meeting, please CLICK HERE.

Nicole Bradshaw
Next

Getting Accepted into EmergeNM