Albuquerque Public Schools is holding community forums this week as it stares down budget cuts. While the numbers aren’t finalized, administrators Monday said they expect to be working with around 13% less next fiscal year. They broke down the various pots of money the total will get split into and asked community members which programs they’d prioritize over others. Some participants were displeased, saying they wanted more specifics and more money to work with.
APS Chief Financial Officer Rennette Apodaca told attendees that the district expects a $1.9 billion budget for fiscal year 2025, down from this year’s $2.2 billion. She says the budget is getting squeezed by dropping enrollment and inflation, as well as legislator-approved raises and expanded instructional time.
“And then, this year, we have federal funding that we received during the pandemic that is expiring,” she said, adding that this was the biggest shift in the budget projection.
Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds expire in September, so won’t be available next fiscal year. Executive Director of Budget for APS Rosalinda Montoya said those amounted to $242 million for the district.
The district gave community members a primer on its spending, explaining that over $904 million — or just under half –– will go into operations. Of that, about 80% will go to schools, including classroom instruction, materials and student support services. The rest will go to district and school administration, campus and equipment maintenance and operations, human resources, IT and accounting.
Community members were then asked to participate in what board member Courtney Jackson called a “fun budget game,” coming up with priorities and making tradeoffs for a balanced budget. Afterward, she clarified that the scenario they were given wasn’t real.
“This is all pretend, what you guys were just doing,” she told participants. “These are not the actual budget decisions we have to make. This was just kind of a mental exercise.”
Some participants expressed disappointment in the activity that appeared to be meant to build empathy for the APS staffers who have to make tough calls.
“It’s not really super valuable to me as a parent to be put in a fake way into that role,” a participant who didn’t identify themself on the live stream of the event said. “Like, I want to know the real numbers, the real programs. I want to know what’s getting cut — that’s why I’m here.”
District officials said they don’t yet have those acutals, since it is so early in the process and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has yet to sign the state budget. They said the hope was to hear the community’s priorities at this stage. They urged participants to tune into future board meetings as the numbers come into focus.
Others expressed frustration with the need to rob Peter to pay Paul, saying lawmakers in the capital should have given the district more to work with in this year’s larger-than-ever state budget.
“Maybe I don’t need to be here — not that I mind being here. But maybe I need to be writing more people in Santa Fe, or maybe I need to be doing something else on top of that,” said a community member who did not identify themself. “So, that way, we can be successful and not feel like we’re picking which dog we’re going to shoot and which one we’re going to keep.”
The next community budget forum will be held Wednesday, Feb. 28, from 6-8 p.m. at Lyndon B. Johnson Middle School.
