Lt. Gov. Morales, Sen. Correa Hemphill, and NMPED Deputy Secretaries Sandoval and Perea Warniment to join EENM and NMOST this Thursday!

The New Mexico Out-of-School Time Network (NMOST) and Environmental Education of New Mexico (EENM) hosted a listening session on Thursday, June 3 from noon-1 p.m. where we brought together the outdoor education community (through EENM) and the out-of-school time community
(through NMOST) for a listening session on how New Mexico can use ARP (American Rescue Plan) funds. We appreciate our special guests Lt. Governor Howie Morales, Senator Siah Correa Hemphill (State Senate District 28) AND Katarina Sandoval, Ed.M. (NMPED Deputy Secretary of Academic Engagement and Gwen Perea Warniment, Ph.D. (NMPED Deputy Secretary of Teaching, Learning and Assessment) Student Success) joining us for this event!

Both EENM and NMOST provided priorities identified for funding gathered from the last fifteen months of listening sessions hosted by both networks along with providing space for listening to your needs.

Information gathered during this session will be shared with the New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED) who is drafting the plan for the use of this over $1 billion dollars in funding allocated to education in New Mexico over the next several years.

Links to pdfs of the slide presentations shared:

IntroSlides_060221Listening Session_NMOST_EENM NMPEDslides_060221ListeningSession_NMOST_EENM StatewideOutdoorClassrooms_JointListeningSession_EENMandNMOST-2

OST in the American Rescue Plan (ARP):

  • ARP allocates 90% of ESSER III funds directly to school districts and has a provision that at least 20% of these sub-grants are dedicated “to promote learning recovery, including comprehensive afterschool programs and summer learning or enrichment programs.”
  • The New Mexico Public Education department is required to set aside 1 % ($9,790,563) for afterschool.
  • The New Mexico Public Education department is required to set aside 1 % ($9,790,563) for summer learning.

NMOST Staff Recommends:

  • That $6 million be set aside for CBOs to implement afterschool programs during the next two years
  • $1.8 million be used to boost afterschool in Community Schools
  • $1.8 million for internships for vulnerable students
  • Recommends that the Department of Education allocate a minimum of $9,790,563 of the 5% ($48,952,813) set aside for addressing learning loss to summer learning programs for the next two years.

How federal stimulus funds can be used for outdoor classrooms and outdoor learning (please see this handout for more info: Statewide Outdoor Classrooms in New Mexico_060321):

  • An Outdoor Classroom at every New Mexico Public School. Cost: $7 million (877 schools at an average cost of $8,000/school)
  • Outdoor Learning Coordinators spread throughout the state can greatly aid in the design, implementation, and use of outdoor classrooms. Cost: $5 million annually (98 coordinators at $50,000/coordinator and an Outdoor Learning Specialist at NMPED)
  • An Outdoor Learning Micro-credentialing Program: Working with EENM and its broad community, develop an outdoor learning micro-credentialing program. EENM working with the outdoor and environmental education community can develop the content (e.g., standards-aligned outdoor learning, social and emotional learning in the outdoors, culturally responsive outdoor learning, risk management in the outdoors). Cost: $200,000