Skip to main content

Personal tools

Translate
APS District News

Budget Goes to the Board

Posted May 2, 2025, 4:00 PM. Updated January 26, 2026, 3:04 PM.

APS 2026 fiscal year budget nears home stretch.

The APS Board of Education is scheduled to vote on the district’s proposed $2.25 billion budget at its May 7 meeting, culminating a months-long process that included community forums and input from a variety of groups and individuals.

An approved budget must be presented to the state Public Education Department by May 19.

The budget is about 4.67% higher than in the 2025 fiscal year, highlighted by a 4% increase in salaries for all public school employees. The increase was passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham earlier this spring.

A continuing budget concern is a significant drop in enrollment. In 2026, APS projects an enrollment of just under 65,000, a figure that factored into a shortfall of about $4.7 million. The gap was absorbed by the district’s fund balance, or reserves.

Another challenge is rising costs on basics such as electricity, fuel and other necessary items, so it’s clear the budget will be tight. That means a high priority must be placed on aligning available dollars toward meeting district goals, said Superintendent Gabriella Blakey.

“Months of thoughtful planning has gone into the budget, and we’re grateful to both the community and the board for their deep commitment to putting students first,” she said. “We’ve had hours of discussions on how to best use the public’s money, and while we recognize no budget is perfect, we believe what we’re proposing is a key step in the right direction.

“That said, difficult decisions had to be made. We worked very hard to make certain our students were our top priorities as we worked on the budget.”

The public throughout the year was invited to voice its wants in the budget process. In the fall, the district created a survey gauging community priorities, and the Board of Education followed up with in-person meetings around town.

Key issues – including high-quality instructional materials, safety and increased family supports – came to the fore. Other key drivers included the wish to continue promising programs in the district’s Strategic Performance Framework such as TOPS, in which schools receive added funding to create innovative educational models that keep students focused and engaged.

Armed with those ideas, the district’s budget office has gone about creating a plan that concentrated on aligning funds to high-impact programs of study; altered the allocation of federal Title I funding to help schools most in need; and concentrated on an educational return on investment.

"The Finance team, working in collaboration with our academic partners, has worked very hard to align the budget to board goals and the APS Strategic Plan in a way that supports students," said Rennette Apodaca, the district's chief financial officer.

The change to the way Title I money is distributed is notable. Every school in APS receives Title I in the form of services that are baked into each school’s budget. But the district is making changes to its school-based Title I formula to create a more equitable allocation of resources.

It’s believed that by moving more Title I funding to schools with higher poverty rates, those schools will be able to improve their students’ academic performance. The effort is guided by the board’s Goals and Guardrails and APS’ community-driven strategic plan.

Schools receiving more federal funding will dovetail those resources to evidence-based practices that move the needle on student achievement. Those receiving less money will have more flexibility in how they deploy funds.

“Improving student outcomes is our most important goal, and while that’s never as quick or as easy as we’d like it to be, crafting a budget is a really important step,” said Dr. Blakey.

To learn more about the budget and see presentations that have been shared this year, click on these links: