Albuquerque Public Schools

Albuquerque Public Schools is seeking the public’s input on the search for its next superintendent. It’s hosting in-person “community conversations” this week and has also posted a survey online. APS is asking community members about the qualities they want to see in the district’s next leader.

Albuquerque residents have several bonds on their ballots this election related to education. Central New Mexico Community College, Albuquerque Public Schools, and city libraries and museums all stand to receive millions in public funding for capital projects. The largest of the three, which will appear on Bernalillo and Sandoval County ballots, is for CNM, which stands to receive $80 million for campus improvements.

It’s election time and several candidates will be vying for three seats on the Albuquerque Public Schools Board. On the next Let’s Talk New Mexico, we’ll be asking the candidates their thoughts on the current state of education and what their contributions to the board would be.

Albuquerque Public Schools officially introduced its 5-year strategic plan at a summit Wednesday. Around 200 community members attended the event to hear about the goals and strategies that came out of a year-long process, during which a panel of students shared their thoughts on the plan and other ways APS could improve.

APS has set out four goals in its new strategic plan, Emerging Stronger. The district says it will track its progress toward achieving them over the next five years. But one may be more difficult to measure than the others.

Albuquerque Public Schools has released a 5-year strategic plan for improving student outcomes. The district says over 2,000 students, staff and community members weighed in on the document and it’s the first time its administration and school board have collaborated in this way. Several of the goals focus in on the state’s most underserved students identified in the Yazzie-Martinez ruling.

As students and educators continue to grapple with the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state’s largest school system is seeking public input on its next five-year plan. KUNM’s Taylor Velazquez spoke with the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education president about why this process is different this time around and what issues most concern parents.

Across the state our school semester now is in full swing. However, the school shooting in Uvalde has left lingering anxieties when it comes to systematic training failures. And so far in 2022, the U.S. has seen more than 300 mass shootings that extend outside of school like at supermarkets and parades. Albuquerque Public Schools has a new safety training for students to help prepare them for mass shootings.

A committee of the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education Thursday night tabled a controversial policy proposal regarding the rights of parents, including access to student counseling records. Several groups, including teacher and LGBTQ student advocates, had called on the community to speak out against the proposal. KUNM’s Nash Jones has more.

An Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education committee will consider a proposed new policy Thursday regarding parental responsibility in children’s education and access to student records, including those related to accessing counseling. But there’s opposition to the proposal from several groups, including the Albuquerque Teachers Federation and GLSEN New Mexico — an LGBTQ student advocacy organization — due to concern that the policy could harm both students and teachers.