LAPS ignored period products law for more than two years
Invoices show that Los Alamos Public Schools was aware of a state law requiring free menstrual products in school bathrooms as early as July 2023 but didn’t begin purchasing products and dispensers for them until September 2025, after Boomtown asked Superintendent Jennifer Guy about the district’s compliance with the law.
To help LAPS comply with the new law, the state provided the district with more than $30,000 in funding for the purchases of period products. As of March 13 of this year, the district has spent less than $2,000 of that funding on period products, according to invoices and purchase orders obtained by Boomtown through a public records request.
Emails between district officials, also obtained through a public records request, show that LAPS leadership knew about the law as early as July 18, 2023, when Assistant Superintendent Carter Payne shared details of the law with the district’s business manager and CFO. The email also spelled out what was needed to comply. In a separate email about the new law, to the CFO, Payne wrote, “We got: $31,653.51.”
The funds LAPS received came from the state legislature, which allocated $3 million in annual funding for school districts across the state to purchase period products as House Bill 134, known as Menstrual Products in School Bathrooms, became law.
The 72-word law states, in part, that every public middle school, junior high school, secondary school, and high school in New Mexico is required to place free period products in every women’s bathroom, every gender-neutral bathroom, and at least one men’s bathroom.
The funds are distributed to districts, including LAPS, by the New Mexico Public Education Department, which told Boomtown that LAPS received $22,296.59 for the 2024-2025 school year, and has received $20,793.69 for the current school year.
Janelle Taylor Garcia, a PED spokesperson, told Boomtown that the funds are distributed to districts through what’s known as the State Equalization Guarantee, or SEG.
“SEG is a locally controlled funding mechanism, meaning districts are not required to spend a specific dollar amount on a single item; however, they are required to comply with statute,” Garcia said. “In this case, districts must meet the requirements of Section 22-1-15, which requires that menstrual products be made available to students at no cost in designated school bathrooms.”
Section 22-1-15 does not contain any enforcement provision though, and PED is not tasked with monitoring district purchases, Garcia said.
PED spokesperson Janelle Taylor Garcia: “…districts must meet the requirements of Section 22-1-15, which requires that menstrual products be made available to students at no cost in designated school bathrooms.”
PED did, however, issue guidance to New Mexico school districts in an August 7, 2023, memorandum, which explained that the $3 million in annual funding was meant “to meet the requirements of this new law.” PED also provided contact information for any district needing help or guidance on complying with the law.
Boomtown first inquired about LAPS’ compliance with the law in September 2025 and Superintendent Jennifer Guy said in an email, “All students in the district have free access to feminine hygiene products at every school. Every nurse’s office stores the products in an accessible location and products are available in many school restrooms. We are in the process of installing new dispensers and receptacles in all bathrooms across the district. This project will be completed by December 2025 and we are in compliance with state law.”
Seeking answers
In February of this year, Boomtown published an article about the district’s compliance with the law that was reported and written by Boomtown intern, and Los Alamos High School student, Hannah Waldschmidt. In her reporting, Waldschmidt personally visited eighteen gender-neutral and women’s restrooms at LAHS and found that only five had period products available, while eleven contained none. Two others were closed. She emailed LAHS Principal Eric Ziegler and assistant principals Ryan Finn and Suzanne Montoya about her findings, but she never received a response.
Soon after Waldschmidt’s article published, Guy asked to discuss the matter with Boomtown, although, after initially agreeing to speak in person at an upcoming school board meeting, at the meeting she said she was “in a hurry” and that she didn’t understand why there was so much concern over the availability of period products at district schools. “We have them in the nurse’s office,” she said. Guy added that some students might not have noticed the dispensers in the restrooms or saw them and didn’t know what they were.
Guy on April 8 sent an email to parents and guardians in which she addressed the availability of period products.
“There was some discussion online that the students may not have access to feminine hygiene products at school. We have double checked and have dispensers in the restrooms and nurses [sic] offices,” she wrote. “In addition, all nurses’ offices have ample supplies of products.
LAPS Board of Education President Sondra Wyman told Boomtown on April 22 that the district is now in full compliance with the law. In an emailed statement, Wyman wrote:
“The Los Alamos Public Schools Board of Education takes all state mandates and student wellness requirements seriously.
“As a District, we are committed to full compliance with all state laws. While we were working toward full implementation, our focus began by ensuring these products were available at highest need locations. Installation across all sites is complete.
“Our District is meeting the requirements of the law. If anyone has questions or concerns about sanitary napkin availability at school sites, we encourage them to please reach out to their school nurse, principal, or Superintendent Guy.
“The Board will continue to provide oversight to ensure our facilities meet state standards and support student needs.”
Turning to public records
On March 17, 2026, using the state’s Inspection of Public Records Act, or IPRA, Boomtown requested from the district all invoices and purchase orders related to purchases of period products made by LAPS from June 16, 2023, through March 13, 2026.
We received two purchase orders and three invoices.
The district called the fulfillment of this IPRA request a “partial fulfillment” but did not provide a date for when the request would be fully fulfilled. We sent a follow-up request for the remaining documents on April 9, without a response. We again followed up on April 15 and were told no further documents could be found.
“After an extensive search through the 2023, 2024, and 2025 fiscal years, the district was unable to identify any additional responsive records and your request is now considered to be closed,” Payne wrote in an email.
The invoices show that, even though the law went into effect in the summer of 2023, LAPS didn’t purchase any period products until September 16, 2025. In that transaction, the district bought two cases of rolled pads along with six dispensers. Each case of rolled pads contained twelve rolls, with each roll containing forty pads.
Boomtown on March 25, again under IPRA, requested emails pertaining to the law and the purchase of period products sent to and from the accounts of district officials between March 30, 2023, and March 25, 2026.
Those emails included the July 18, 2023, email sent by Payne explaining the new law to the business manager and CFO, and the emails from the LAPS employee who inquired about simply posting signs in the bathrooms that directed students in need of feminine hygiene products to the nurse’s office.
Compliance still in question
District emails show that LAPS leadership knew about the nascent law as early as July 18, 2023, two days after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the legislation into law. And while it appears the district had period products available to students for free in the nurse’s office, this is not enough to bring the district into compliance with the law.
According to the invoices, the district did not purchase any period products between July 16, 2023, and September 16, 2025.
Furthermore, the next purchase of such products wasn’t made until February 6, 2026, two days after Waldschmidt’s mother posted to social media that Waldschmidt was working on an article about the availability of period products in LAPS bathrooms. That February 6 purchase was for six more cases of rolled pads and thirty-six more dispensers.
The total for all the purchases made between September 2025 and February 6 was $1,575.68.
While the district ostensibly had period products on hand prior to the recent purchases highlighted in the invoices and had placed them in the nurse’s office of its schools, having such products available in a nurse’s office can be inconvenient for students, and going to an office can be embarrassing.
During Waldschmidt’s reporting, a respondent to an online survey about the availability of period products at LAHS said “Girls should not have to share this information with staff they may not feel comfortable with just to get what they need.”
Moreover, the law states that these products must be available to students in school bathrooms. Anything short of this is a violation of the law, and to date, LAPS has yet to provide definitive proof that it is in full compliance with the law.
Boomtown survey respondent: “Girls should not have to share this information with staff they may not feel comfortable with just to get what they need.”