HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 38

51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2013

INTRODUCED BY

Antonio "Moe" Maestas

A JOINT MEMORIAL

PROCLAIMING FEBRUARY 13, 2013 TO BE "COMMUNITY SCHOOLS DAY" AT THE LEGISLATURE.

     WHEREAS, New Mexico's community schools movement is growing because of its proven success; and

     WHEREAS, community schools are located in diverse communities throughout the state of New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, educators have long striven to promote academic success, particularly for students who are Hispanic or Native American, a primary population being served by community schools; and

     WHEREAS, academic and behavioral results from these schools hold promise at a time when New Mexico's educational system needs improved school performance; and

     WHEREAS, community schools are founded on research demonstrating that children succeed when adults work together to foster positive educational outcomes and schools work best when families and community stakeholders take active roles in the education of children; and

     WHEREAS, community schools focus on increasing learning time, engaging families, strengthening community and school connections and coordinating resources; and

     WHEREAS, community schools include extended learning to improve overall student learning, tie learning to careers, reduce risky behaviors and keep students safe; and              WHEREAS, community schools also include comprehensive school-based health services, including behavioral and primary health care, to reduce the number of school days that students miss, to remove non-academic barriers to learning and to encourage family engagement and support so that families are healthy and can involve the entire family in the educational lives of the family's children; and

     WHEREAS, community schools are helping New Mexico achieve what education leaders refer to as "the new normal", defined as rethinking the way in which government spends scarce resources to maximize results for children through collaboration and public-private partnerships; and

     WHEREAS, integrated services, a hallmark of community schools, have the potential to streamline costs, especially when seeded and further leveraged by community and private supports like the Albuquerque/Bernalillo county community schools partnership, the university of New Mexico and the Albuquerque public schools community learning centers projects; and

     WHEREAS, because community schools are catalysts for change, school districts should consider the community school strategy as an allowable intervention and remediation strategy for low-performing schools, especially those schools in which students demonstrate low proficiency in reading and mathematics;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that February 13, 2013 be recognized as "Community Schools Day" at the legislature; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the governor and the secretaries of the public education department, the department of health, the children, youth and families department and the human services department.

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