The Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education has approved a $2.15 billion budget for the next fiscal year — which will go toward educating, feeding, busing and otherwise serving almost 65,000 students at 143 schools.
The budget also includes raises for more than 11,000 employees and more arts instruction.
The spending plan covers APS schools as well as district-run charter schools.
Board President Danielle Gonzales began the meeting by discussing the criteria for approving the budget.
“It is not our job to develop the budget,” she said. “It is merely our job to make sure that it meets the vision and values of our community.”
The discussion revolved around whether the budget fit in with goals and guardrails identified in the district’s Emerging Stronger strategic plan.
The goals are early literacy, math proficiency, post-secondary readiness and skills, habits, and mindset for life success. The guardrails are strategies APS plans to use in working toward the goals.
The board voted unanimously to approve the budget, although they expressed concern about how well it fit the strategic plan.
Member Courtney Jackson said her concerns were addressed by administrators’ assurances that changes will be made in key areas.
Future budgeting will be smoother
Incoming Superintendent Gabriella Blakey told board members next year’s budget will show more concrete links between spending and achieving the strategic plan.
Sheri Jett, the district’s associate superintendent of school climate and supports, said APS is looking at incorporating into its financial software system the ability for a school or department to show which goal or guardrail it is addressing when it puts in a requisition for a purchase. She said the party in charge of approving the purchase can then check for alignment with the relevant objective and follow up if needed.
“We’ve been working with our current provider to see if we can add that to our existing system, and then hopefully to our new system also,” Jett said.
Pandemic aid expiration anticipated
One area in which APS has been successful, administrators said, has been absorbing the revenue loss caused by the expiration of federal COVID-relief aid.
“You’ll see districts across the country having these huge deficits because they put so much extra money into people,” Blakey said.
She said APS instead spent that money on one-time items such as bringing instructional materials up to date and making repairs.
Key budget items
The heart of the budget — operational funds — are up $38 million from the current fiscal year to $1.02 billion, according to APS. That increase includes $25 million for a 3% raise the New Mexico Legislature approved for all employees.
The district is also spending $16 million to continue its Transformational Opportunity Pilot Schools, which offer extra instructional time for students in struggling schools.
Another $802,000 will go toward the final phase of APS’ fine arts expansion, which will guarantee access to music and art classes for all of the district’s K-6 students.
The total budget is down $13.1 million from the last school year and includes operational funds, $581.5 million in capital funds, $199.1 million in federal grants and $194.8 million in debt service. The remainder is state and federal money earmarked for school meals, transportation, instructional materials and other needs.
The budget now heads to the New Mexico Public Education Department for approval.
“Wednesday’s vote to approve the budget was the culmination of countless hours of hard work by our finance team, schools, and department leaders,” Blakey said. “We held public meetings, asked the community to weigh in through a survey, and made multiple budget presentations to the board. I’m proud of the process we used and of our spending plan, which prioritizes our mission to improve outcomes for all our students.”