sa国际传媒官网网页入口

The sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Public Schools board approved the district鈥檚 largest budget to date on Wednesday, despite declining enrollment. The budget includes cuts to almost 300 full-time equivalent positions.

APS鈥� total budget for next school year is $2.35 billion, up about 4% from last year鈥檚 budget of $2.25 billion. 

The district receives the lion鈥檚 share of its funding from the state鈥檚 Public Education Department, which distributes money to schools using a formula called the state equalization guarantee, or SEG, which assigns a unit value to each student and adds additional dollars for factors like special education and English-language learner status.

As New Mexico鈥檚 largest district, APS is set to receive a total of $1.02 billion from the PED for next school year 鈥� about 22% of the department鈥檚 total funding pool for all schools.

Divided evenly, APS鈥� budget shakes out to a cost of about $36,859 per student 鈥� more expensive than the $30,118-a-year tuition at the area鈥檚 most expensive private school, sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Academy.

APS鈥� operating scale is so large, its budget surpasses the city of sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 projected budget for next fiscal year by 60%, or $880 million.

More than 9% of the New Mexico state general fund for next fiscal year will go to APS.

School board members voted 4-2 to approve the budget Wednesday night. Board members Ronalda Tome-Warito, Janelle Astorga, Heather Benavidez and Courtney Jackson voted in favor, while board members Rebecca Betzen and Warigia Bowman voted against. Board member Joshua Martinez was not present.

Enrollment declines

APS鈥� enrollment is down 20% from pre-pandemic levels, in line with national trends. The district had 63,726 students enrolled on the 40th day of this school year, down from 80,109 in 2019.

Since last school year, enrollment at APS is down 2,560 students. The drop means a decrease of about $40 million in revenue from the SEG for the upcoming school year.

Public schools across the country are facing enrollment declines, in part due to falling birth rates and post-pandemic societal shifts. In 2015, 50.3 million students nationwide were enrolled in public schools, according to the . That number is projected to be down to 47.6 million in 2026.

APS is facing a $16.1 million deficit, requiring a dip into the reserve fund, according to Chief Financial Officer Rennette Apodaca. The district will have $57.8 million in reserves after the money is spent.

鈥淲e know that declining enrollment is causing us to have this deficit that we鈥檙e facing,鈥� said David Vigil, executive director of budget and strategic planning at APS.

Despite the enrollment drops, the district鈥檚 spending continues to rise due to an increase in construction projects and higher costs for compensation and benefits, APS officials said.

APS officials predict enrollment will keep falling for the foreseeable future. The district projects it will have 54,672 students by the 2029-30 school year.

鈥淯ntil the kindergarten numbers go up, we essentially will continue to decline in our enrollment 鈥� unless millions of people move to sa国际传媒官网网页入口, which would be great,鈥� APS Superintendent Gabriella Blakey said.

Staffing cuts

The district plans to cut 290 full-time equivalent positions next school year, though APS officials said a majority of those employees will be able to stay employed at the district by transferring to another open position at a different school.

APS鈥� 鈥渕ust-hire鈥� list of employees whose positions were cut and are first on the list to be hired for other district jobs contains 192 people, according to APS spokesperson Martin Salazar.

On the list are 82 elementary school teachers, 46 secondary school teachers, 39 special education teachers, 17 assistant principals, three ancillary employees (speech language pathologists, social workers, etc.), two counselors, two nurses and one fine arts teacher.

Blakey said Wednesday she was 鈥�99.9% confident鈥� that all of the people on the list would get placed in other jobs within the district.

鈥淚n the district, where you lose enrollment isn鈥檛 all at one place. When you have 144 schools, it can be a variety,鈥� Blakey said. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 a shift of where we move the teachers to match the enrollment. We haven鈥檛 seen鈥�that there鈥檚 a worry that we won鈥檛 be able to place everybody.鈥�

sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Teachers Federation President Ellen Bernstein told the Journal the district has never had a reduction in force.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e on the priority hire list, that鈥檚 because APS owes you a job,鈥� Bernstein said.

The district is cutting six full-time physical education teachers, which means six more schools will have a half-time teacher for PE, according to Deputy Superintendent Antonio Gonzales. These teachers will have to split their time between more than one school.

Betzen 鈥� a former APS employee whose campaign was endorsed by the teachers union 鈥� said she voted against the budget primarily because of the cuts to physical education and to other teachers.

鈥淚 cannot support a budget that adds increased strain on already overburdened teachers and support staff,鈥� she said.

Blakey said schools with fewer than 300 students 鈥� of which there are around 40 鈥� have always employed half-time teachers for extracurriculars.

鈥淚f we were able to give all schools full-time PE, art, music and librarians 鈥� of course, that would be great, but that would be at a point where we wouldn鈥檛 be able to fund something like that,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t would have to come at an expense somewhere else.鈥�

Operating costs

A 1% salary increase for school employees mandated earlier this year by the state Legislature will cost the district an estimated $6.2 million, APS officials said. The district is also required to pay for at least 80% of employee health insurance premiums starting next school year under the newly signed House Bill 47, totaling an estimated $35 million.

APS鈥� operational budget for the 2026-27 school year is $1.15 billion, 92% of which will go to employee compensation and benefits. Last year鈥檚 operational budget was $1.08 billion, marking an increase of 6.6% this year.

The $2.35 billion total budget includes capital outlay funds 鈥� next year, APS has allotted almost $729 million for construction and renovation. The district plans to build a new special education facility on sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 West Side, which will an estimated $15 million funded through bonds.

The budget also allots nearly $208 million for debt service 鈥� largely the repayment of bonds, according to Salazar.

Other funding will go to student services. APS is the largest transportation agency in the state of New Mexico, Salazar said, and the district will spend nearly $24 million next school year for student transportation.

APS has until May 20 to submit its budget for approval to the PED.

Natalie Robbins covers education for the Journal. You can reach her at nrobbins@abqjournal.com.

Editor鈥檚 note: An earlier version of this story misstated the share of the PED budget and state budget that will go to APS.