ALAMOSA — Michael Mumper, a member of the Alamosa School District Board of Education, is running unopposed in the November election. He is finishing up his first four-year term.
The Valley Courier has offered all the candidates for the board the opportunity for an interview. Mumper was the first to respond and below are his responses to questions from Valley Courier News Editor John Waters.
Waters: What have been the accomplishments of the board over the last four years?
Mumper: It has been a very challenging four years. During that time, we have had three superintendents and three school board presidents. We had an online school and lived through all of the problems and challenges challenging COVID. Closing and reopening schools. We shifted to a four-day week. We brought some security officers into the school. I feel we have accomplished a lot and that the district is in a better place than it was when I was elected.
Waters: What are the top several things you would like to accomplish in the next term?
Mumper: The most important thing is to keep our focus on academic achievement with all of the changes going on in delivery and scheduling. It was easy to get into a let's just make it to the next week or next term kind of attitude. I'm hopeful I can help keep everyone focused on academic achievement and make sure students are accomplishing what they need to accomplish. Test scores are going up. We are moving forward; our school is at full accreditation. I hope to build the strongest school district in the Valley.
Waters: Can you address the outlook for the district financially as federal Covid funding such as the Elementary and Secondary School Relief program is coming to an end?
Mumper: In the wake of COVID, the federal government made substantial funds available to school districts to deal with the expensive and difficult transition that we had to make to keep everyone safe. Those funds are indeed running out, and we have been able to accomplish a lot of things using federal funds. We will now have to transition back into the district budget and that will be a challenge for sure.
Waters: Some school districts in Colorado are stocking overdose reversal medications such as Narcan, does the Alamosa School District, or is it planning to do so?
Mumper: I do not know.
Waters: Can you tell our readers a little about yourself?
Mumper: I've been in Alamosa for 17 years, I moved here to take a job at the university [Adams State University]. I'm an emeritus professor in the political science department. Today I'm the Director of the Master of Public Administration program at Adams State. I am also the project director of a $3 million grant that addresses the rural teacher shortage. I am teaching undergraduate and graduate students and directing an important project.
Waters: Can you discuss how your career in academia assists you as a school board member?
Mumper: For the first eight years that I was here and at Adams State, I was senior vice president at the university. I was here for the big financial crisis and trying to be part of the team that led the university through some very difficult times. That certainly has provided me with experience in dealing with the state, dealing with budgets, and being flexible in making quick changes. That was also the time the university undertook substantial renovations. The Rex Stadium, classrooms in Richardson Hall. During that eight-year period, we were able to move the university forward. I hope to take those experiences and skills and provide some advice to the leadership team at the school district and accomplish the same things.
Waters: Anything else you would like to address?
Mumper: I believe we have a really excellent superintendent [Diana Jones] and she has assembled a very talented leadership team. I hope to be working with her and them over the next four years because I feel the district is headed in the right direction.
The Valley Courier has reached out to all the candidates running for the school board and offered them the opportunity of an interview. Our second interview is with Kaylee Gomez Romero and will appear next week. The election is on Nov. 7.
