Educator tosses retirement
With 50 years experience, Zuni interim superintendent plans to get job done

Wesley Lane is the new Zuni School District Interim Superintendent. He hails from Cloudcroft, N.M. — © 2009 Gallup Independent / Brian Leddy

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff writer

ZUNI — Some people might think Wesley Lane has strange ideas about how to enjoy his golden years.

While most of his peers are enjoying their retirement by spending time with hobbies and grandchildren, Lane is still putting in long hours in the educational career he began 50 years ago. Lane, 78, recently moved to Zuni Pueblo on a temporary basis to serve as interim school superintendent for the Zuni Public School District.

The ZPSD hired Lane in late January after its board of education placed Superintendent Kaye L. Peery on administrative leave in response to the New Mexico Public Education Department’s Educators Ethics Bureau charging Peery with a dozen counts of misconduct. Lane has agreed to serve as superintendent until Peery’s legal case is resolved.

Lane sat down with the Independent for an interview last week, after just his fifth day of work. Originally from southeast New Mexico, Lane said he began his career in 1959 in Cloudcroft, teaching business education classes.

Four years later he became a principal there, and four years after that he became Cloudcroft’s school superintendent. After his retirement in 1988, he went on to become the executive director of the New Mexico School Board Association for seven years. After his retirement from the association, Lane began the most recent phase of his long career — helping out school districts by stepping in to serve as a temporary interim superintendent until the district’s regular superintendent can either return to work or is replaced.

His current stint in Zuni is just the latest in a series of interim positions held around the state. Previously, Lane explained, he served as interim superintendent at Hondo, Cloudcroft (in a return visit to his former position), Animas, Mosquero, and Bloomfield. He was recommended to ZPSD, he explained, by the school district’s attorney who was familiar with his background.

“This is my enjoyment,” Lane said with a wry smile.

Calling himself the “hired help,” Lane admitted it is sometimes a difficult task to come into a school district and “hold things together,” but it’s a challenge he finds satisfying. “It always takes a little time getting caught up on the issues,” he said.

Lane said he was still in the process of learning about the issues facing ZPSD, but he noted his most immediate concern is that none of Zuni’s five schools have met the most recent AYP standards. An important goal, he said, is to get Zuni schools out from corrective action.

“I think motivation on the part of students and the parents and the staff,” said Lane, are the keys to student success.

Asked if he had a message for teachers and staff members of ZPSD, Lane said the best thing for them to do right now is just “concentrate on the kids” rather than on the recent turmoil in the district, which he admitted has a tendency to break down staff morale.

Lane advised parents to support their child’s school anyway they can, visit with their child’s teachers, attend all school functions, encourage their child to do their best, and not to listen to gossip and rumors.

He also encouraged interested parents to attend the district’s school board meetings and said they are welcome to sign up in advance to make a public comment during those meetings. In addition, Lane said, community members are always welcome to drop by his office to discuss a concern. “My door is always open,” he said.

Lane was asked about some issues that have been raised by community members, like the number of Zuni students attending school elsewhere and the lucrative job benefits Peery allegedly abused.

Although Lane said he believes parents might need to send their child to another school for some legitimate reasons, he said it is important for the ZPSD to try to find the reasons behind the “out-migrations” of its school children.

“Yes, the enrollment has been dropping steadily for the last few years,” Lane said. The exact number of Zuni students who are attending other schools is difficult to determine, he said, but he believes it should be a real concern if many parents living in Zuni are driving their children to outside schools each day.

As to his job benefits, Lane said he and his wife are paying for their small apartment in Zuni. He said he is getting paid a daily rate — based on Peery’s salary — for only the actual days he works, and he doesn’t get sick leave or vacation days. When he came to Zuni, Lane explained, he already had some activities planned, like an upcoming hunting trip. He won’t get paid for those days he takes off, he said, and he won’t use a school vehicle for non-school business.

“I won’t take the car hunting with me,” he joked.

Lane said he doesn’t know how long he will serve as interim superintendent. “I’m prepared to leave when they don’t need me,” he said, “and prepared to stay as long as they need me,” he said.