Aztec High School

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Aztec High School
Aztec High School 2008.jpg
Aztec High School in 2008
Address
Aztec High School
500 E Chaco St.

Aztec, New Mexico 87410

United States
Coordinates 36°49′15″N107°59′26″W / 36.82083°N 107.99056°W / 36.82083; -107.99056
Information
Type Public High School
MottoHome of The Fighting Tigers
NCES School ID 350015000135 [1]
Teaching staff48.42 (FTE) [2]
Grades9-12
Number of students830 (2018-19) [2]
Student to teacher ratio17.14 [2]
Campus9.4-acre (0.038 km2) Town Fringe
Color(s)   Black & orange
Athletics NMAA
District 1-AAAAA
MascotTiger
Website ahs-amsd-nm.schoolloop.com

Aztec High School is a public high school in Aztec, New Mexico. The school colors are black and orange and the mascot is the Fighting Tiger.

Contents

In addition to Aztec, the district (and effectively the high school) also serves northern Bloomfield and the communities of Cedar Hill, Center Point, and La Boca. The district also includes most of Flora Vista, North Light Plant, and Spencerville, as well as portions of Crouch Mesa and Navajo Dam. [3]

History

Until 1956, students from Bloomfield went to Aztec. In 1956 Bloomfield High School formed out of the town's junior high school. [4]

School environment

The student-teacher ratio for full-time teachers is around 1:18, which is slightly higher than the New Mexico state average. [2]

According to the Department of Education, in 2013, Aztec's student body was measured at 26% Hispanic and almost 20% Native American. [5] In 2017 there were approximately 900 students enrolled at the school. [6]

2017 shooting and lawsuits

On the morning of December 7, 2017, the San Juan County Sheriff's Department said they were responding to an active shooter on campus. The New Mexico State Police Twitter account confirmed that two students were killed by the gunman, a former student, who then killed himself. [7] [8] [9]

A lawsuit was filed against Aztec schools and police after the shooting, claiming administrators failed to heed the advice of a 2013 school security assessment which recommended securing the school perimeter with new infrastructure improvements such as fencing and a funneled entrance. The lawsuit claimed the security assessment was dismissed by the superintendent and a board member as a risk that was "simply too remote" to support funding security enhancements. [10]

The mother of Casey Marquez, one of the victims of the shooting, filed a civil rights lawsuit against the school for sexual misconduct against Marquez before her death. According to the lawsuit, the accused teacher, James Dee Coulter, had resigned from the district, claiming he had anxiety over the shooting. However this came after he had admitted to school personnel that Marquez had been on the second floor, where she was killed, to leave her personal belongings in the teacher's classroom though she did not have a class with him. [11]

Allegations towards Coulter had been made in 2014, and continued until he resigned after the shooting. [11] A separate student accused Coulter of similar misconduct, and he admitted to several more. [12] He pleaded guilty to one count of fourth degree-felony criminal sexual contact as part of a plea agreement and was sentenced January 31, 2020 to a lifetime on the sex offender registry, and released the same day. [13] [14]

Previously a teacher at the school had been investigated in 2016 for having a sexual relationship with a male student. [11]

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References

  1. ↑ "Search for Public Schools - AZTEC HIGH (350015000135)". National Center for Education Statistics . Institute of Education Sciences . Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Keaton, Patrick. "School Directory Information (2019-2020 school year): Aztec High". National Center for Education Statistics . United States Department of Education . Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  3. ↑ "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: San Juan County, NM" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau . Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  4. ↑ "Bloomfield Bond Issue Is Approved". Albuquerque Journal . Albuquerque, New Mexico. May 24, 1956. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ Hudetz, Mary (February 7, 2018). "Racial motive disputed in New Mexico school shooting". Associated Press . Archived from the original on September 6, 2022. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  6. ↑ Contreras, Russell (December 8, 2017). "New Mexico school shooter left note plotting attack, suicide". ABC News . Associated Press. Archived from the original on December 9, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  7. ↑ NMSP [@NMStatePolice] (December 7, 2017). "Updated information: 1 suspect shooter is deceased. 2 students are deceased. No other injuries reported. The school has been evacuated. #Aztecschoolshooting" (Tweet). Retrieved December 7, 2017– via Twitter.
  8. ↑ Balingit, Moriah (December 7, 2017). "3 reported dead, 15 injured amid gunfire at New Mexico high school". The Washington Post . Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  9. ↑ Lopez, Fernanda; Mitri, Lysee (December 7, 2017). "3 dead in Aztec school shooting, 2 victims identified". KRQE . Nexstar Media Group. Nexstar Media Group. Archived from the original on December 10, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  10. ↑ Kellogg, Joshua (December 6, 2019). "Aztec police, schools sued in wrongful death lawsuit over AHS shooting" . Farmington Daily Times . Archived from the original on December 7, 2019. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  11. 1 2 3 Mayeux, Debra (October 5, 2023). "Lawsuit claiming sexual misconduct at Aztec High School set for trial". Tri-City Record. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  12. ↑ Moses, John R. (August 17, 2018). "State Police arrest ex-AHS teacher who admitted sexual contact with students". Farmington Daily Times . Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Ex-teacher may plead guilty in New Mexico statutory rape". Associated Press . December 13, 2019. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  14. ↑ Kellogg, Joshua (January 31, 2020). "Former Aztec High teacher sentenced for sexual contact with student" . Farmington Daily Times . Archived from the original on February 1, 2020. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
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