LCPS officials said the district will continue enforcing existing Board policies governing attendance boundaries, student transfers and athletic eligibility.
Source: Las Cruces Public Schools
Las Cruces Public Schools announced Friday that it will not adopt recently proposed New Mexico Activities Association eligibility and transfer rule changes for the 2026-27 school year, opting instead to continue operating under existing district transfer policies.
The decision follows a recent NMAA referendum process that asked member schools to consider several bylaw changes, including a proposed “one-time free transfer” rule that would have allowed students to transfer schools once without penalty and maintain immediate athletic eligibility. Another proposal would have allowed eighth-grade students to open enroll at the high school designated as the feeder school for their current middle school.
LCPS officials said the district will continue enforcing existing Board policies governing attendance boundaries, student transfers and athletic eligibility.
According to a memorandum distributed to middle school and high school families, district leaders said adopting the proposed changes would conflict with ongoing efforts to balance enrollment across schools through a district rezoning process initiated during the 2024-25 school year.
The district stated that maintaining established attendance boundaries and transfer procedures supports ongoing efforts to balance enrollment and manage school capacity across the district.
Under current policy, students are generally expected to attend their assigned home school based on residence, while transfers continue to follow an application process that considers factors such as capacity and enrollment.
District officials also emphasized that existing athletic eligibility requirements will remain in place and said the transfer process should not be used to create competitive advantages for individual schools or athletic programs.
Families with questions regarding athletic eligibility or transfer procedures are encouraged to contact their school’s athletic coordinator. The district is also reminding families to ensure student address information is current within the Synergy student information system.
A copy of the full LCPS memorandum is available here:
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