ALAMOSA — This week, leadership of the Alamosa School District (ASD) announced the decision to institute a salary freeze for at least the remainder of 2025. 

“We’re signing an MOU with the teachers union to re-look at things no later than January 15, 2026,” says Alamosa School District Assistant Superintendent Luis Murillo. “This is about enrollment. It’s about birth rate and people having fewer kids. Like a lot of other schools, we’ve lost a considerable number of students over the last five years. We try our best to sustain our teachers and programs and not shut things down like other schools have had to do.” 

Murillo went on to say, “We have a considerable amount of students who are going to other school districts. It’s true with Centauri, Sargent, Sangre.  We have some kids who go to the GOAL academy. So, we’re doing things like holding open houses and telling our story to regain the trust of families to bring them back to Alamosa. For that reason, we’re showing in the Courier and other places what we have done to earn their trust and hope they will come back to us.”   

Although they don’t have firm data as of yet to back up their observations, Murillo says, “We believe that [students returning to Alamosa] is happening. This year, we were supposed to be below 2,000 and we are at 2,022, so we believe we’re making some progress. But we want to sustain our teachers and programs, and the salary freeze will help us do that.”  

When it comes to success stories, ASD is not in short supply. 

As has been reported in the Valley Courier, in May of 2024, Alamosa Elementary 3-5 (AES 3-5) and Ortega Middle School (OMS) were ranked among the 2024 Best Elementary and 2024 Best Middle Schools by the U.S. News & World Report.  The rankings were determined after a review of data from more than 79,000 public elementary and middle schools across the country. 

The Alamosa High School graduating class of 2024 also had three finalists for the highly prestigious Boettcher scholarship – a number not seen in years – with two ultimately being recipients. 

In 2025, ASD Elementary 3-5 Principal Michelle Wilson was named 2025 Colorado Elementary Distinguished Principal of the Year by the Colorado Association of School Executives. Wilson was selected for this honor by a committee of Colorado elementary principals as part of a highly competitive process. 

Earlier this month, Alamosa Elementary K-2 campus was notified that it will be recognized with the Governor’s Distinguished Improvement Award. 

And, as was announced at the AHS 2025 graduation, 18 students graduated with associate’s degrees and students earned $1.6 million in scholarships.  

In terms of sports, the Valley Courier reports on Thursday that five Alamosa High School athletes were placed on the Class 3A All-State team – three “Mean Moose” boys and two “Mean Moose” girls plus, earlier this week, the Alamosa High School track program swept both 3,200-meter run races at the 2025 Colorado High School Activities Association track and field meet. 

With that said, Alamosa School District is not alone in lower enrollment numbers. According to information from the Colorado Department of Education, enrollment numbers in 100 school districts in Colorado declined in the 2024 to 2025 school year, with statewide numbers being the lowest they have been in a decade.  

The general consensus is in agreement with Murillo: part of the reason for lower enrollment is declining birthrates in Colorado. The decision young families make in choosing to have children – or to wait – is also influenced by factors outside of school districts’ control. 

“Affordable housing plays a role in young people delaying starting families.” said Colorado Education Commissioner Susana Córdova in a fall of 2024 interview with the Colorado Sun.  “Our school districts across the state are grappling with the implications of housing on their young workforce.”  

Alamosa has good news on that front, as well.   

In March, ground was broken to begin construction of the housing development known as Tierra Azul. The development will ultimately be comprised of 412 residential units, with the recent groundbreaking paving the way for construction of 137 units including townhomes, and first-time homebuyer options.