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More New Mexico students are going to class

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More New Mexico students are going to class


A school bus leaves Desert Hills Elementary in Las Cruces Wednesday, July 31, 2024 to start dropping children off at home. (Photo by Leah Romero / Source New Mexico)

The rate of chronic absenteeism in New Mexico schools dropped in the last school year, but the state continues to report some of the highest rates in the country since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Missing at least 10% of school days in an academic year, or 18 days in a 180-day school year, is how state and national experts define chronic absenteeism. Since 2020, New Mexico has been one of the states with the highest rates in the country, with only Washington D.C. and Alaska reporting higher rates.

“Chronic absenteeism has a direct correlation to graduation: Students who are chronically absent in pre-K through 1st grade have a harder time reading at grade level by 3rd grade, which results in lower achievement scores in middle school. In high school, these students are more likely to drop out. Simply put, you cannot learn if you’re not in school,” said Kelly Jameson, spokesperson for Las Cruces Public Schools.

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Jameson said the LCPS Board of Education adopted Policy JHB in 2020 to ensure the district complies with the state’s Attendance for Success Act, an effort to address the high number of students missing school. The policy established an “early warning system” allowing the district to identify absent students early to prevent and intervene in individual cases before a student became chronically absent. 

“In LCPS, 30% of our students were considered chronically absent last semester, which is better than the state average. More importantly, we are making progress – that number is down from the end of 2023, which was 34%,” said Jameson.

One factor in the state’s high absenteeism is inconsistency in how attendance is reported, according to a Legislative Finance Committee analysis. The Public Education Department was instructed in 2019 through the signing of the Attendance for Success Act to collect attendance data and confirm school districts are reporting “consistently and correctly.” 

Guidance from the state department has been slow to reach districts.

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The New Mexico Public Education Department released data this week showing the absenteeism rate in the state dropped to 32.8% in the 2023-2024 school year. This is an almost 7 percentage point drop compared to the previous year. 

The highest rate New Mexico has reported in the last several years was 40.73% in the 2021-2022 school year. 

“We will continue to build on this momentum to foster an environment where consistent attendance is the norm, not the exception,” said Public Education Deputy Secretary Candice Castillo.

Only a handful of states have released data for the 2023-2024 school year and New Mexico so far leads with the highest rate.

Earlier this summer, state lawmakers received an update from Legislative Finance Committee analysts which showed New Mexico had the largest increase in students missing school between 2019 and 2023. The state’s rate jumped by 119% while the national increase was 71%.

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Jameson said prevention and intervention efforts in Las Cruces also include the statewide partnership with the national organization Graduation Alliance and community partnerships with New Mexico State University social workers who provide attendance data, interns managing family caseloads and home visits with parents of absent students who were unreachable three times.

According to the Public Education Department, efforts to address chronic absenteeism statewide also include the department’s “Be Here NM” campaign to spread awareness of the issue and training for districts and charter schools.

The department also noted the change from tracking “habitual truancy” to “chronic absenteeism,” which was meant to create better support for students and families struggling with attendance rather than punishment.

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New Mexico Lottery Powerball, Pick 3 Day results for Feb. 11, 2026

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The New Mexico Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at Feb. 11, 2026, results for each game:

Powerball

06-20-33-40-48, Powerball: 05, Power Play: 2

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

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Pick 3

Day: 7-8-7

Evening: 2-1-0

Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Lotto America

02-14-28-41-51, Star Ball: 02, ASB: 02

Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.

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Pick 4

Evening: 3-3-3-8

Day: 6-6-0-9

Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Roadrunner Cash

03-10-17-21-22

Check Roadrunner Cash payouts and previous drawings here.

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Powerball Double Play

05-06-19-27-57, Powerball: 23

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Las Cruces Sun-News editor. You can send feedback using this form.



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Dry Thursday with above average warmth in New Mexico

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Dry Thursday with above average warmth in New Mexico


Another day with temperatures well above average is in store for New Mexico. See the latest conditions at KOB.com/Weather.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Most of New Mexico will remain dry throughout Thursday with a mix of sun and clouds overhead and temperatures well above average.

Rain and snow showers moved across north-central New Mexico early Thursday morning, mainly in areas around the Jemez Mountains and the northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains. A stray shower may pop up again in the late-afternoon and continue into the overnight hours, including in Albuquerque.

In Albuquerque, the record high temperature of 70 degrees – set back in 1918 – is in jeopardy. The forecast high is 68 degrees. It all depends on how much sunshine there is.

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Friday is the big day. Most areas will remain too warm for snow, with the exception of higher elevations in the mountains. However, rain is possible in lower elevations.

Unfortunately, this will not help all too much with our drought situation. Between last week’s drought monitor (left) and Thursday’s monitor (right), there has been no change. Almost all of New Mexico is in some type of drought and more than half the state is also in a rainfall deficit.

Areas marked in yellow have abnormally dry conditions, while the red is classified as an extreme drought. The darker the color gets, the worse the drought becomes. 



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NM Rep. calls El Paso airspace shutdown unacceptable; restrictions remain in Santa Teresa

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NM Rep. calls El Paso airspace shutdown unacceptable; restrictions remain in Santa Teresa


A New Mexico Congressional Representative called the El Paso airspace shutdown “unacceptable” as flight restrictions remain around the Santa Teresa area.

New Mexico Representative for District 2 Gabe Vasquez accused the Federal Aviation Administration of ignoring standard procedures by closing a city’s airspace without alerting state and local officials.

“There are standard rules and procedures for how our airspace is controlled, including when the Department of Defense (DOD) is conducting any testing in our region. These procedures keep Americans safe and prevent disruption to civil airspace. This morning, the Administration decided to steamroll those policies and close a major city’s airspace without notifying state and local officials. That is unacceptable,” Vasquez wrote in a statement.

AP: Pentagon-FAA dispute over lasers to thwart cartel drones led to airspace closure

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Furthermore, Vasquez questioned the explanations that government officials have been giving for the flight restrictions.

Vasquez said the FAA had been tracking the Department of Defense’s “counter drone” tests for days and he believes the FAA mistakenly responded to the tests by shutting down the airspace for 10 days.

“The statements this Administration has put out about the situation are misleading at best and a cover-up for their incompetence at worst,” Vasquez wrote. “Let’s be clear — the Administration has provided no proof of a drone incursion that would warrant this large-scale, 10-day response. Our nation can prepare for these threats without causing chaos and inducing unwarranted fear.”

Vasquez said that despite the 10-day closure of the El Paso airspace, which was cancelled only after seven hours, flight restrictions remain in an area a few miles from the Santa Teresa jet port, which remains open and was never impacted by the closure.

FAA map showing the airspace closure near Santa Teresa. Credit: FAA

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Below is Vasquez’s full statement:

I have been tracking this situation since very early this morning, and I want to assure southern New Mexicans and those who rely on the El Paso Airport that there is no national security threat and operations are expected to resume as normal at the El Paso Airport.

There are standard rules and procedures for how our airspace is controlled, including when the Department of Defense (DOD) is conducting any testing in our region. These procedures keep Americans safe and prevent disruption to civil airspace. This morning, the Administration decided to steamroll those policies and close a major city’s airspace without notifying state and local officials. That is unacceptable.

Medical evacuation flights had to be diverted, commercial air carriers were forced to cancel as many as half their flights for the day, and people were left stranded. The American people deserve better than the chaos and lack of transparency we keep seeing from this Administration.”

Through my conversations with federal and local officials, it has become abundantly clear the FAA was tracking the DOD’s counter drone tests for multiple days, and the FAA responded — in error — with the disproportionate response of abruptly closing our airspace for 10 days. The statements this Administration has put out about the situation are misleading at best and a coverup for their incompetence at worst.

Let’s be clear — the Administration has provided no proof of a drone incursion that would warrant this large scale, 10-day response. Our nation can prepare for these threats without causing chaos and inducing unwarranted fear.

El Paso mayor criticizes FAA over airspace shutdown; called it ‘unnecessary decision’

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