News from the Superintendent: September 8, 2009

September 7, 2009

Good morning.

I hope you had an enjoyable Labor Day Weekend. It’s always hard to say good-bye to summer.

I would like to clarify something you may have seen in the news last when I was interviewed about possible budget cuts. While I did say that a reduction in force could become necessary if we’re told to cut the budget again, nothing is imminent. Certainly, nothing is going to happen until Gov. Richardson and legislators sort everything out during the special session in October.

I answered the question about what a 3 to 5 percent cut would look like. And because 85 percent of the district’s costs are labor, the next cuts we have to make will impact employees.

There is no question that the state is not in good financial shape right now, but there are many other questions that cannot be answered until after the special session. So, please sit tight for the time being. I know it’s hard not to be worried, but we need to stay focused on educating our students and doing the very best job we can for them.

U.S. Secretary Arne Duncan has had an eye on New Mexico, and maybe even on APS because of its size. The state Public Education Department has invited Sec. Duncan to take a look at the uses of stimulus funds in action, and he may travel to the Southwest. We’re doing all we can to get on his itinerary because we have a lot to share with him.

We were asked to share some of our most significant uses of stimulus funds that we can showcase to Sec. Duncan. We submitted the extended/flexible day for high schools; technology purchases for high poverty schools and special education; and our extended year programs for kindergarten through eighth grade, which saw a whopping 153 percent increase in enrollment this summer.

This could be an exciting opportunity to bring positive attention to APS at the national level and present some of the incredible work that we do here.

The APS Education Foundation will be presenting some incredible work at 3:30 this afternoon at Desert Ridge Middle School. The Foundation will be kicking off the brand new Horizon Campaign with the announcement that two local businesses are donating $50,000 apiece toward a $1 million goal targeted at district needs. This unprecedented campaign will raise funds during this school year for APS fine arts, literacy, middle and high school activities, and classroom teacher mini-grants. We can’t thank these generous donors enough and we look forward to a successful campaign.

A huge crowd showed up for the opening celebration at Rudolfo Anaya Elementary last Thursday. Mr. Anaya offered an excellent message that challenged every student who enters the new school to graduate from high school one day and go beyond. It’s a good message for all.

This Thursday we’ll celebrate another iconic author with the opening celebration of Tony Hillerman Middle School.

Have a great rest of the week.

Winston Brooks
Superintendent