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New school building coming to South Valley after 40-year wait

By Susie Gran
Thursday, January 24, 2008

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Feeling overlooked and neglected, the Navajo Elementary School community has waited 40 years to hear these words: You'll have your new school soon.

Albuquerque Public Schools officials planned a 6 p.m. meeting today at the South Valley school to deliver the promise of a completion date: January 2009.

Navajo, a 720-student, year-round school at 2936 Hughes Road S.W., has one of its original 1967 portable buildings to prove its age.

It also has 12 new classrooms built in 2005 as evidence that starting the school was not enough.

"This community is very frustrated that they don't see anything happening," said librarian Holly Rucker.

Finally next month, the bid will go out for $9 million to construct the rest of the school, said Kizito Wijenje, executive director of the APS master plan. Construction will begin in March.

"Twelve months from now, they'll have a brand-new school," Wijenje said.

When Navajo parents heard the news about Georgia O'Keeffe Elementary in the Northeast Heights getting a new school after only 20 years of waiting, they wondered why they had to wait 40 years.

"The Georgia O'Keeffe situation sent some of our community members into a kind of craziness," said Navajo Principal Tracy Herrera.

Like Georgia O'Keeffe, Navajo was built in a hurry with portable buildings to ease the crowding in nearby schools.

Still today, 29 Navajo classrooms are in portable buildings. The cafeteria, the library and the office are also in portables.

For the past four years, the Navajo campus has been a construction zone with a maze of chain-link fence around sections of dirt and debris. The school track and all but one playing field are gone, covered with portable classrooms.

"Our new library was promised in April 2007. That was moved to June 2008, and now it's whenever they get time," complained Leona "Nana" Noll, who works as a volunteer in the library.

Wijenje said he agrees the campus "is a mess. I know how bad it is. It's bad."

The work that was started in 2002 was not finished because the district did not have the money, he said. The classroom wing completed in 2005 still has a number of problems with the roof, and the heating and cooling system.

"It is getting fixed," Wijenje said. "It wasn't completed properly, and the contractor walked off the job.

"Now we're in a major construction push and, yes, there's some pain. We've just got to work through it."

As for Georgia O'Keeffe and its sister school, Susie Rayos Marmon — identical portable schools with costly maintenance — they won't be finished before Navajo is, Wijenje said.

The O'Keeffe completion date is 2010. Half the Marmon school will be completed in 2009; the remainder in 2010.

Stuart Prager, a Navajo volunteer and community member for 35 years, said he'll be at today's meeting to question district officials about the construction timeline.

Prager said the resentment in his community over the O'Keeffe replacement school reflects the perception that the Northeast Heights is favored over the South Valley by school district officials.

"That riles people," he said.

Prager said he's ready for a serious commitment from APS to complete Navajo.

"We'll see what happens. We've been told time and time again that our school was going to be finished. I'm not going to hold my breath."