Board discussion broadened beyond privacy concerns to reliability, classroom use and whether the state-required K-2 reading tool will remain in place

Damien Willis, Organ Mountain News

LAS CRUCES - Las Cruces Public Schools says it has received written confirmation that prior student voice recordings collected through the Amira reading assessment have been deleted, as district officials and board members raised broader questions about the assessment’s reliability and future.

Deputy Superintendent Wendi Miller-Tomlinson told the Board of Education on Aug. 18 that LCPS received confirmation from Amira that stored recordings of district students had been removed. For the 2026-27 school year, voice-recording retention has also been disabled, meaning the system can listen to and score a student’s reading but the recording is deleted after the assessment is completed.

The update followed parent concerns over how Amira, a state-required assessment for kindergarten through second grade, records children reading aloud and handles those recordings.

But the board discussion moved beyond data privacy.

Miller-Tomlinson said the state is preparing a new request for proposals for a K-2 reading assessment and suggested Amira may not remain the sole option.

“I don’t think that this would be selected again,” she said, adding that if it is selected, districts may have additional choices. She described the assessment as “likely either on its way out or to be joined with other options.”

Board Vice President Robert Wofford also questioned how accurately Amira measures student progress, including whether unusual or inconsistent results can occur and how the tool compares with assessments administered directly by teachers.

District officials said overall student growth measured through Amira was just under 3% from the beginning to the end of last school year, with kindergarten students showing about 11% growth. Miller-Tomlinson said LCPS is already looking ahead to what “a better tool” might look like for younger learners.

Parents and community members also used public comment to raise concerns about the assessment’s classroom use, potential bias and reliance on educational technology.

One speaker read feedback describing difficulty using Amira in classrooms with 16 to 20 or more students testing simultaneously and questioned how well the system handles children with accents, missing teeth or speech impediments.

Another parent urged the district to scrutinize the company behind Amira and how student data could potentially be used across related education-technology companies.

LCPS stressed that Amira was selected by the New Mexico Public Education Department, not the district. Miller-Tomlinson said the assessment is required for all K-2 students three times a year, with additional monthly progress monitoring for students who do not meet proficiency benchmarks.

Parents who do not want their children assessed through Amira can request a paper-based assessment through their school.

That alternative requires about 30 minutes of one-on-one testing per student, district officials said, making it significantly more time-intensive for teachers.

The district’s actions on voice recordings follow an earlier Organ Mountain News report detailing parent concerns and LCPS plans to disable recording retention, seek deletion of existing recordings and provide a paper option.

The Aug. 18 meeting provided the first confirmation that the deletion request had been completed — and signaled that the larger debate over Amira may be far from settled.

Damien Willis is founder and editor of Organ Mountain News. If you have a personal story to share or a lead we should follow up on, reach out at OrganMountainNews@gmail.com or connect with him on X at @damienwillis.