by Ethel Day, Contributing Reporter
APS held a community meeting on October 11th at Chaparral Middle School (CMS) to give an update on the proposed new school at its current location. Project Manager and Deputy Superintendent of Support Services (or whatever her current job title is) Colleen Tagle spearheaded the presentation and public discussion. Little did she know that she just admitted to being the one at fault for the now, going on 4 years since Alamogordo residents voted ‘yes’ to fund a new CMS. The problem was the ballot measure didn’t say it was being used for the new CMS and Tagle just admitted she is the one to blame for the mishandling of taxpayer money.
After APS pleaded with the community to give them funding by voting on the November 2019 GO Bond/SB-9/HB-33, APS submitted their 2020-2024 5-Year Facilities Master Plan to the New Mexico Public Schools Facilities Authority (PSFA) and the Public School Capital Outlay Council (PSCOC) after it was approved by the board on April 5, 2020. Why is this document important? It is a requirement to receive state capital outlay funding. How does this document pertain to CMS? CMS was given a final priority ranking of 0, identifying it as being the capital outlay project that will be happening next and had already received PCOC/PSFA award money. The estimated total project cost was $36,126,854 and the completion date was set for 2021. This is what was told to the voters as well.
“The district anticipates a potential budget of $31,475,870 from GOB, SB-9, and HB-33 funds plus $21,627,552 in PSCOC/PSFA funds for the Chaparral MS replacement project to meet its 2020-2024 facility needs.”
It is now almost 4 years since residents were told there would be a new CMS and they want to know why. At the community meeting, Tagle started the conversation by blaming the usual suspects: COVID and building costs. However, 1 hour and 3 minutes into the meeting, the conversation took an unexpected turn.
Watching the video recording of the meeting, it is unknown who this resident was but what they had to say made a lasting impact.
“The email I read from the PSFA a year ago, if I’m not mistaken, pointed to this administration as not engaging them, being the cause of the delays, forcing a hold in the program, because you did not work with the PSFA.”
The resident ended by telling Tagle, “You did not get the job done,” to which Tagle admitted to her role. “You’re right. I personally did not get the job done,” Tagle conceded. Tagle is not the only one to point fingers at as everything pertaining to capital outlay must be signed off by the board. Those same board members are bidding for re-election.
History is repeating itself. APS already held a special election requesting to extend the GO Bond, SB-9, and HB-33 back in May 2023. Alamogordo residents voted for the GO Bond but not the mill levies. Mill levies are now on our November ballots. We are again being promised a new CMS on the same premises outlined by the last ballot measures. The problem is that we do not know how Tagle and the board will actually use the money. In Tagle’s own words, they will not get the job done.
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