APS Board of Education Approves 2012-2013 Budget

The district will continue to look for ways to cover a $5 million shortfall.

May 25, 2012

The Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education on Friday approved an operational budget of $604 million for next school year that keeps class sizes about the same as this year but may require the district to tap into its savings to cover a $5 million shortfall. The district plans to keep looking for ways to cover the shortfall without impacting the classroom.

The total 2012-2013 budget is $1.2 billion, but only half of that money is available for day-to-day operations including salaries and benefits. The rest of the funding is tied to specific purposes such as buses, school meals, building repairs and renovations. The district also has cash reserves – essentially an emergency savings account – of about $27 million.

The budget approved by the New Mexico Legislature in February slightly increased operational funding for public education for the first time in four years. However, the increase won’t be enough for APS to cover anticipated cost increases for such things as utilities and pay increases for teachers who move from one salary level to the next.

APS also will need to hire more math teachers this fall because high school students now need an extra year of math to graduate. And the district will absorb the cost of a middle school leadership program that will no longer be funded by the National Guard.

This is the fourth consecutive year the APS operational budget has been cut for a total of about $105 million. However, the district did manage to increase funding for schools by $5 million this year.

The 2012-2013 budget will now go to the New Mexico Public Education Department for final approval.