OPINION: An insult to rural schools: Why Dixon deserves better

On Sept. 17, Española Public Schools held what was billed as a “community meeting” on the future of Dixon Elementary and other rural schools. The district promised transparency and dialogue. What families received was a tightly controlled presentation designed to push a predetermined outcome: school closure under the insulting banner of “right sizing.”

Despite repeated assurances that the district wanted to hear from the community, questions from online attendees were ignored. Instead, only a handful of audience questions were acknowledged. Hard questions — about funding, administrative spending and equity— were left unanswered. The district did not engage in dialogue; they controlled the narrative.

EPS claims it would save $378,000 by closing Dixon, yet it refused to answer a central question: Why are administrative costs, including growing salaries and stipends, not part of this conversation?

The district says that supporting teacher salaries and small schools costs too much. Yet, if you compare the projected savings from closing Dixon to the ongoing investment in inflated salaries (both upper administration and non-administration employees), athletics, and deferred federal and capital outlay funding, the truth is clear: EPS is making a choice — a choice to protect administrative perks and big-ticket items instead of advocating for and supporting small rural schools.

EPS received millions in federal funds last year, yet Dixon hasn’t benefited from that investment. In numerous board meetings, the desire for a new high school has been mentioned. That isn’t equity — it’s neglect. The board seems fixated on a new high school, but if rural schools are driven out, who will be left to attend it? Strong leadership means supporting all students, not dismantling the communities that sustain them.

The Yazzie-Martinez ruling made clear that New Mexico has a constitutional responsibility to provide equitable opportunities for rural, Hispanic, Native, low-income and English-learning students. EPS’s treatment of Dixon — denying a kindergarten class, after-school programs and fair funding — stands in direct contradiction to that mandate. Rather than lifting up a rural school that performs well, EPS is undermining it.

Perhaps the most insulting moment of the meeting came when the district’s consultant claimed — without a shred of data — that small schools harm children’s social and emotional development, suggesting that students from rural communities struggle when they transition to middle and high school.

The opposite is true. Dixon students often enter middle school better prepared because they have benefited from smaller classes, individualized support and a close-knit community that builds confidence and resilience. To suggest otherwise is to ignore both experience and research.

EPS also failed to answer the most pressing safety concern: What happens to families forced to bus their children through the canyon? Data from the New Mexico Department of Transportation show 273 motor vehicle accidents between mile markers 15 and 25 on N.M. 68 from 2014 to 2023.

If Dixon closes and children are forced onto long bus rides along a dangerous stretch of highway in northern New Mexico, EPS will be responsible not just for inequity but also for putting children in harm’s way.

Dixon is not a failing or “inefficient” school. It is a spotlight school with a 41.5% transfer-in rate and only 13.9% transfer-out rate. Families want to be here. With 76% of its facility in use, Dixon is performing far better than the district’s narrative suggests. By every measure, Dixon is serving its students and community well.

The meeting was not a conversation — it was an insult. Families were dismissed, questions ignored and communities treated as obstacles rather than partners. EPS has a duty to represent and engage the communities it serves. That duty was abandoned.

It is time to act. Families and community members must call their state representatives and the Public Education Department, demand a review under Yazzie-Martinez, and insist that Dixon and other rural schools be supported — not shuttered.

Dixon deserves better. Our children deserve better. If EPS chooses to close Dixon, it will not only dismantle a school — it will destroy community trust for generations. Families who have poured time, resources and love into this district will see this decision as proof that their children are expendable, and rebuilding that trust will be nearly impossible.

There is a better path. Instead of starving Dixon, EPS could strengthen it: reinstate a dedicated kindergarten teacher, provide the equitable after-school programs offered at other schools, and allocate federal funds fairly. These steps would cost far less than the long-term financial, social and human costs of closing a rural school. Equity requires investment, not abandonment.