{"id":2259,"date":"2015-10-22T12:52:41","date_gmt":"2015-10-22T19:52:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pueblowarriors.org\/blog\/?p=2259"},"modified":"2015-11-06T12:53:41","modified_gmt":"2015-11-06T19:53:41","slug":"pueblos-magnet-status-to-be-or-not-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pueblowarriors.org\/blog\/2015\/10\/pueblos-magnet-status-to-be-or-not-to-be\/","title":{"rendered":"Pueblo\u2019s Magnet Status: To Be or Not to Be?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sandra<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

By Sandra Iniguez<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

On\u00a0Monday, Sept.\u00a028, a Town Hall meeting was held in Pueblo\u2019s library in order to inform our community of\u00a0the decisions being made regarding our school\u2019s magnet status.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

District officials were present, including TUSD Superintendent Dr. H. T. Sanchez, as well as a dozen Pueblo students, mostly from media classes, as well as several Pueblo teachers.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Pueblo<\/a>
Dr. Augustine Romero explains the Magnet Program situation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dr. Augustine Romero, Pueblo\u2019s principal, began this meeting by giving a brief history of Pueblo\u2019s magnet status, which began back in 1992. The focus of\u00a0this magnet school back then\u2014as it is now\u2014communications. The effort to transition to a magnet school was challenging, despite the effort\u00a0to attract students from other regions\u00a0of Tucson to make our student population more racially diverse.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Fast forward to 2015\u2026<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEquality in our schools only shows what everyone deserves, but equity is what we need in this case,\u201d said Dr.\u00a0Romero.\u00a0\u201cThe diversity of our student enrollment\u00a0should not be a determining factor when they have [shown a considerable rise in academic success].\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This year, however,\u00a0Pueblo was on the verge of having its magnet status removed, but our Native American student population helped meet the integration goal.\u00a0Pueblo has become restless because of this standing\u00a0question: What would happen if we lost our magnet status?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are already under-funded as it is,\u201d added Romero.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The removal of Pueblo\u2019s magnet status would result in the loss of about $538,000 of funds. This being the money that pays for teachers, student field trips, additional staff, and programs. These magnet funds are generated through local taxes.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe reduction in funding would be detrimental to Pueblo,\u201d said\u00a0TUSD\u00a0Superintendent H.T. Sanchez.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Sanchez added,\u00a0\u201cIf you pay rent or mortgage you are [helping fund Pueblo], and these are local dollars.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"TUSD<\/a>
TUSD Superintendent Dr. HT Sanchez answered many questions regarding future of Magnet Program.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although Pueblo\u00a0is gradually\u00a0achieving racial integration,\u00a0students must accomplish higher academic levels\u00a0in order to improve our chances of keeping\u00a0our magnet status.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHigher grades, AP class enrollments, more scholarships, acceptance to institutions of higher learning, and higher scores on semester exams will help\u00a0to support\u00a0our efforts of keeping Pueblo\u2019s magnet status,\u201d explained Sanchez.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Romero echoed the same response.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Willis Hawley appointed by federal court judge Bury, referred to as the ‘Special Master’, who originally placed Pueblo on a list of schools to lose their magnet status has since removed us. However, our magnet status remains endangered and Dr. Hawley will return in about a year to raise the question once again.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLots of advisement is taken into account when making a decision regarding a school\u2019s magnet status, including the community\u2019s and ex-administrators\u2019 opinions,\u201d said Sanchez. \u201cBut ultimately the \u2018Special Master\u2019 gives his own recommendation.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople just want to be a part of something positive, it\u2019s going to be harder to achieve racial diversity with a lack of something positive [our magnet status] benefitting our school,\u201d said\u00a0Romero.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Pueblo\u2019s magnet coordinator Ms. Laura Gallego, said that if Pueblo were to lose its magnet status, it would result in more students in classrooms because there would be fewer teachers because there are\u00a0several who are paid out of the magnet money budget.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt worries me [losing Pueblo\u2019s magnet status] because the communications program is what\u00a0makes Pueblo unique,\u201d said Skyblue Estrella, a senior at Pueblo, who attended this meeting. \u201cIf Pueblo loses its magnet status,\u00a0we will not only lose what makes it special, but also a part of our community\u00a0that we students hold dear\u00a0[teachers and students].\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

English teacher Ms. Constance Onsae said,\u00a0\u201cI think the parent meeting went well. A\u00a0lot of information was shared about the current magnet status [dilemma] and how parents can work to get around the process and obtain\u00a0the magnet money Pueblo deserves,\u00a0even in our current\u00a0financial state.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

She paused and added, \u201cI do believe that\u00a0Dr. Sanchez seems to be doing all he can to\u00a0help the Pueblo magnet status.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Pueblo will remain on the \u201cEndangered\u201d list regarding its magnet status, and in one year, the issue will be discussed once again. In essence, Pueblo\u2019s magnet status is \u201csafe\u201d for now, but the evaluation process will resume next year\u00a0to\u00a0discuss\u00a0the fate of the school\u2019s magnet status for the 2017-18 school year.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0“I am hopeful that we will retain our magnet status after next year and years thereafter,” said Dr. Romero. “The criteria has been established for us and we must continue down a path towards greater integration and elevation of our levels of academic achievement.”<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 By Sandra Iniguez \u00a0 On\u00a0Monday, Sept.\u00a028, a Town Hall meeting was held in Pueblo\u2019s library in order to inform our community of\u00a0the decisions being made regarding our school\u2019s magnet status. \u00a0 District officials were present, including TUSD Superintendent Dr. H. T. Sanchez, as well as a dozen Pueblo students, mostly from media classes, as … Continue reading Pueblo\u2019s Magnet Status: To Be or Not to Be?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3,167,245,6,22,254,37],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pA2u4-Ar","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pueblowarriors.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2259"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pueblowarriors.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pueblowarriors.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pueblowarriors.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pueblowarriors.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2259"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pueblowarriors.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2263,"href":"https:\/\/pueblowarriors.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2259\/revisions\/2263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pueblowarriors.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pueblowarriors.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pueblowarriors.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}