Pink slips were hand delivered to thirty-seven (37) first and second-year teachers at Taos Municipal Schools Tuesday (May 24). Their contracts will not be renewed for the next school year.

The school board called a special meeting, but as soon as everyone checked in, they broke into executive session to discuss the RIF (Reduction in Force) Plan, which everyone in the room knew had to do with the pink slips.

Many of the teachers let go were in the Special Education Department. We asked Superintendent Rod Weston if there was a relationship between that and the fact Taos had been singled out for state auditing as a school possibly guilty of “gaming the system” by padding the number of special education services needed.

In many cases the job to tell teachers fell to school principals. We caught up with Taos Middle School Principal Alfred Cordova, who was clearly sobered by all the bad news he had to deliver.

In the meeting, we were reminded that it is against the law to operate a public school at a deficit and that is why the board had to make the decisions they did.