Governance

Las Cruces Academy is incorporated in the State of New Mexico and licensed as a business in the Town of Mesilla. The Town of Mesilla also gives us our certificate of occupancy stating that we meet fire code.

We are an educational public charity, under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS tax code. Donations to the school are tax exempt.

As a charity, we have no owners – rather, the Board of Trustees, all volunteers, oversee the school’s operation, financial and legal.  Our current board has five members; we look to expand it.

The Board hires the Head of School, who is Dr. Lou Ellen Kay.  She is the sole employee of the Board, and currently serves at a nominal salary of $1 per year. She is responsible for implementing all the operation of the school – hiring faculty, admitting students, allowing purchases and legal engagements on the part of the school, etc.  The Board reviews her performance.  The Board meets 3-4 times annually and elects its own members, and solicits advice from diverse people.

We operate under Articles of Incorporation and By-laws that we filed with the State of New Mexico.

Our teachers teach under annual contracts.  We or they can terminate a contract at will, subject to many provisions of fair labor practices.  Teachers receive equal pay for equal time, uniformly. We are free of all restrictions on certification and seniority imposed on public schools, allowing us to hire and retain teachers purely based on their ability and performance.  We, the Board Chair and the Head of School, confer with teachers regularly to help each other make the school run as well as possible for the students.

Our policy handbook covers how students and parents engage with the school, how the Board operates, the duties and the Head of School, the teachers, and the Board itself, the financial and legal arrangements, and much more.

We bank locally with FirstLight Federal Credit Union.  A local accounting firm, Fristoe & Associates, PA, prepares our form 990 tax returns.  We keep our books with QuickBooks and pay our taxes electronically.

We lease our building from Preston Wisconsin LP.

We are listed with Dun & Bradstreet, number 961524340.

We are insured with Philly for liability and with New Mexico Mutual for workers’ compensation, through the local insurance agency, Pat Campbell Insurance.  We cover the building owner’s property insurance held with Acuity.

We are members of the Las Cruces Green Chamber of Commerce.