Board Meeting Dates

Additional Details

Special Board of Education Meeting

AGENDA

Friday, September 27, 2013

7:30 AM

DeLayo-Martin Community Room, Alice and Bruce King Educational Complex, 6400 Uptown Blvd. NE

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Minutes of Special Board of Education Meeting

Albuquerque Public Schools

A Special Board of Education meeting of Albuquerque Public Schools was held Friday, September 27, 2013, beginning at 7:30 a.m., in the DeLayo Martin Community Room, Alice and Bruce King Educational Complex, 6400 Uptown Blvd. NE.

I.      Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 7:32 a.m.

1. A. Roll Call

Present: Dr. Analee Maestas, Kathy Korte (by phone), Lorenzo Garcia, Martin Esquivel, Dr. Don Duran, and Dr. David Peercy

Absent: Steven Michael Quezada

1. B. Adoption of the September 27, 2013, Special Meeting Agenda (Discussion/Action)

Dr. Peercy motioned to adopt the agenda. Kathy Korte seconded the motion. Board members unanimously adopted the September 27, 2013, Special meeting agenda

II.     Special Issues

A.     Introduction to Sustainability Study (Discussion)

Don Moya, chief financial officer, explained the process of reviewing APS’ sustainability:

• Over the past five years, it has become apparent that APS cannot continue to sustain operations with the level of funding provided by the state
• APS has had to either make dramatic cost reductions or perform financial triage in order to balance the budget during the past five years
• Political will in the state does not exist to increase funding levels to cover all fixed cost increases over the past five years and to sufficiently fund public education
• Due to this difficult financial environment, APS leadership and the APS Board of Education have determined that it is necessary to develop a new, sustainable model for delivering public education over the next five years.

Ruben Hendrickson, deputy chief financial officer, explained the comprehensive strategic planning process that the APS District will undergo to identify new business processes and practices that will deliver public school education in a more cost-effective manner.  At the direction of the board and the superintendent, the chief financial officer, the deputy chief financial officer and the capital master planner will lead a task force whose mission will be to develop a long-term sustainability plan for the district.

Things to be considered in the sustainability study include the “right-sizing” of the school district.  In the past 10 years, APS enrollment generally has been flat, and within the past two years APS enrollment has dropped.  Concurrently, the district has experienced growth pressures on the west side of the city.  Numerous schools on the west side have experienced strong enrollment growth as the population continues to shift from the east side to the west side of the Albuquerque metropolitan area.   In the past 10 years, APS has opened new schools on the west side to accommodate the shift in enrollment; however, revenues in the past six years have been flat or down.  APS costs increased with more schools just as revenues began to diminish.

These two enrollment dynamics have created a situation where some schools are enrolled beyond capacity, while other schools are dramatically below capacity.  One objective of the sustainability study is to determine if boundaries need to be re-drawn and which school facilities would be candidates for re-purposing.   School facilities may be re-purposed as new magnet schools in the district, or possibly be leased to charter schools.

In addition to re-aligning the district’s facility space with enrollment needs, the district also will work with the Council of the Great City Schools to conduct cost benchmarking with other comparable large school districts throughout the country.   Through this benchmarking effort, the district intends to identify additional cost-reduction opportunities.

Issues discussed regarding this agenda item:

• What is the ideal cash balance?
• What is the state-mandated cash balance?
• Recommendation to build the cash balance with a five-year plan
• Clarification of issues compared with other districts
• Consider the quality of education and the cost of continually improving achievement
• Representation of grant funding
• Maintenance & Operations Department decisions of cost regarding preventative maintenance vs. deferred maintenance
• Consider Return on Investment (ROI)
• Request grant funding of other districts
• Recommend that this information be presented at the Economic Forum
• Concern for the needs of families of students
• Using the district size as leverage to get better prices and/or higher quality
• Request a list of priority actions to achieve goals

III.    Superintendent Report

Superintendent Brooks reported on the following:

• Sustainability study impact on the budgeting process
• Superintendent’s Teacher Advisory Council’s (SuperTac) initial meeting
• Gratitude for the above-and-beyond efforts of Russell Reid to prepare for the recent meeting with Secretary Arne Duncan
• Increasing number of districts accepting the APS/Rio Rancho teacher and principal evaluation resolution as their own
• Continued discussion with City Council President Dan Lewis about Jefferson Middle School traffic safety issues
• Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) math test in multiple languages
• Appreciation for the APS retirement recognition event

IV.    Board Reports

Board members expressed appreciation for APS excellent administration leadership.

V.     Announcement of Upcoming Board Meetings

President Esquivel announced that the next Board of Education meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 2, 2013, at 5:00 p.m., in the John Milne Community Board room and the next Special Board of Education meeting will be held on Friday, October 11, 2013, at 7:30 a.m., in the DeLayo Martin Community Room.

VI.    Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 9:00 a.m.

APPROVED: ____________________________

Martin Esquivel, President

ATTEST: __________________________________

Steven Michael Quezada, Secretary