Andy Brosig/News-Sun With school enrollment in Hobbs projected to reach as much as almost 11,000 students by the 2027-28 school year, Hobbs Municipal Schools is continuing its plans to increase capacity at the district’s three middle school campuses while adding a fourth campus, probably on the north side of town. The district Facility Assessment Community Team met at the district …

Andy Brosig/News-Sun Several years in the making, the Hobbs Municipal Schools Board of Education gave the go-ahead Tuesday to proceed with a project to address the district’s aging middle school campuses. The board voted unanimously to accept a recommendation from the district’s Facilities Assessment Community Team (FACT) committee to pursue the project to build a fourth middle school in Hobbs.  …

Andy Brosig/News-Sun Reducing the amount of required data New Mexico schools have to file with the state is at the center of a recently-completed overhaul at the New Mexico Public Education Department. While school administrators in Lea County hope the lightening of the requirements will help, many are still waiting for specifics of the plan. “I don’t think we’ll realize …

Andy Brosig/News-Sun Student numbers in the Hobbs Municipal Schools are headed in a positive direction with day-one enrollment topping 10,000 students for the first time in three years, administrators said. Gene Strickland, HMS superintendent, told the Board of Education that enrollment is indicating a potential return to pre-pandemic numbers during its regular meeting on Tuesday. HMS, for example, started the …

ANDY BROSIG NEWS-SUN After more than a year of fluctuating numbers, enrollment in the Hobbs Municipal Schools is inching its way back toward pre-pandemic levels. They’re not there yet, LaShawn Byrd, deputy director for data analysis for the district told the Hobbs Board of Education last week. But the outlook is “definitely positive,” she said. School districts across the state …

Building on the principals of the successful MyPower program for middle school girls in Hobbs, two staff members at Heizer Middle School are bringing a similar effort to boys in the same age group. Project XY is the brainchild of Daleen Evelo, parent attendance liaison at Heizer, and Jessica Ramirez, the school’s social worker. The idea behind the program — …

When it opens for the 2022-23 school year, the Career Technology Education Center Hobbs will host a variety of paths for students to prepare for careers after high school. And the Hobbs Municipal Schools Board of Education learned more about what those pathways will look like Tuesday. CTECH Principal, and HMS Operations Director, Zeke Kaney presented the new course guide …

It might not be a welcome back, but masks are returning. After athletes spent all summer practicing without their face coverings, The Public Education Department and the New Mexico Activities Association mandated the return of masks Tuesday, for indoor sports. “The new toolkit handed down from the governor’s office to the public education department, it is written that any red …

LOVINGTON — In a bid for local control of pandemic restrictions, Lea County Commissioners unanimously supported the authority of elected school boards Thursday. Recent New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) mandates threaten punitive actions for local officials’ failure to comply with state rules, such as those involving masking, vaccinating, social distancing and closures due to COVID-19 cases. Commissioner Gary Eidson, …

LOVINGTON — In a bid for local control of pandemic restrictions, Lea County Commissioners unanimously supported the authority of elected school boards Thursday. Recent New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) mandates threaten punitive actions for local officials’ failure to comply with state rules, such as those involving masking, vaccinating, social distancing and closures due to COVID-19 cases. Commissioner Gary Eidson, …