Board Meeting Dates

Additional Details

Special Board of Education Meeting

AGENDA

Friday, October 11, 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, October 11, 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 7:33 p.m.

1. A. Roll Call

Present: Dr. Analee Maestas, Kathy Korte, Lorenzo Garcia, Martin Esquivel, Steven Michael Quezada, Dr. Don Duran

Absent: Dr. David Peercy

1. B. Adoption of the October 11, 2013, Special Board of Education Meeting Agenda and Approval of the October 2, 2013, Board of Education Meeting Minutes (Discussion/Action)

Steven Michael Quezada motioned for adoption of the agenda and approval of the minutes.  Kathy Korte seconded the motion. Board members adopted the October 11, 2013, Special Board of Education meeting agenda and approved the October 2, 2013, Board of Education meeting minutes.

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II.      Special Issues

A.     Report by Santa Fe Public Schools Board of Education on Current Funding Formula (Discussion)

Linda Trujillo, president of the Santa Fe Public Schools Board of Education, and Tony Ortiz, legal counsel for Santa Fe Public Schools Board of Education, presented the resolution to pursue sufficiency in education funding.

The resolution highlights that the New Mexico Constitution requires that resources be allotted to ensure that all New Mexico children receive sufficient educational services; that the Santa Fe Public Schools Board of Education considers providing students with necessary resources for educational services to be a community, economic, and moral imperative; that existing data demonstrates that New Mexico students receive inadequate funding needed to provide sufficient educational services; and that attempts to address the education funding inadequacies through legislation have failed in recent years.  The resolution states that the Santa Fe Public Schools Board of Education believes that state, local and school level leaders must immediately bring their resolve and resources to bear in addressing this issue. The resolution also states that the Santa Fe Public Schools Board of Education will commit resources to legislative and litigation efforts in fiscal year 2013-14 to bring about immediate and substantial funding increases for education in New Mexico, closing the per student funding gap currently reflected in the available data.

Discussion about this agenda item included:

• Distribution of resolution information statewide
• Meeting the needs of the students across the state
• Education and employment opportunities with small businesses
• Support for quality of life for all New Mexico citizens
• Sufficient funding for education impact on opportunities for students
• Importance of common principal of funding education for all districts
• The New Mexico Constitution states sufficient funding for education must be provided
• Education is funded by the state budget, but funding should comply with state statute
• Research in 2008 illustrated that education was underfunded by $350 million
• New research to update the funding sufficiency data collected in 2008, will be available soon
• The resolution will be used as a tool to inform legislature and executive branch of intentions
• Aggressive language in the New Mexico Constitution to support funding sufficiency
• Organizations interested in providing funding for legal services or providing legal counsel are invited to support the effort
• Contact with legislators on this issue and their responses
• Importance of local boards of education being the point of contact with their respective legislators
• Legislative changes to the structure of the executive branch, specifically the secretary of education
• Evaluation of above and below the line funding reaching students in the classroom
• 5.5 percent of interest on the state permanent funds is used for education with the remainder of interest going back into the state permanent fund
• School boards are designated to give out diplomas, not the New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED)
• How relevant are the precedents set in other states
• Hierarchy of legal precedents starts in New Mexico
• If 5.5 percent of the interest on the permanent fund is used for education,  what percentage goes to pay for the rest of the government
• Differences in the MALDEF and the Santa Fe Public Schools Board of Education lawsuits
• Concern the legislature can’t or won’t make changes
• We need to find a way to have common ground with all of the state’s school districts
• If APS was sufficiently funded by our definition we could hire 2,251 more teachers
• ‘Sufficient’ argument stronger than the ‘equity’ argument
• Types of support could be fiscal, legal counsel, in-kind services, coalition support, and/or legislative conversations
• Concern that if the amount is raised per pupil and it all goes below the line, boards will have control of the funding
• Bargaining units as methods of support and coalition
• Total cost of the endeavor will depend on the length of time to fruition
• Bulk of cost will cover experts testifying and updating the data from research reported in 2008
• Results of similar past lawsuits in other states
• Judges reference the state statutes as basis for their findings
• Information from other states serve as guiding principles for judges
• Agreement that education is underfunded in the state of New Mexico
• Discussion of this issue will be scheduled for a future board meeting
• Necessity to obtain legal opinion on this issue

III.     Superintendent Report

Superintendent Brooks had nothing further to report.

IV.     Board Reports

Board members had nothing further to report.

V.     Announcement of Upcoming Board Meetings

President Esquivel announced that the next Board of Education meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 16, 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 Tuesday, November 5, 2013, at 5:00 p.m., in the DeLayo Martin Community Room.

VI.     Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at   8:48 a.m.

APPROVED: ____________________________

Martin Esquivel, President

ATTEST: __________________________________

Steven Michael Quezada, Secretary