APS may want residency proof yearly

The Albuquerque Public Schools board is considering a policy change that would require families to show proof of residency every year at registration, rather that just the first time a student registers at the school.

The proposed change has been a contentious one for the board, which passed it out of committee on a 4-3 vote this week, but then decided to gather more input and consider compromise ideas before passing it as a full board.

“The bottom line is it’s a difficult issue,” said board president Martin Esquivel, who voted in committee to support the policy change.

	How to comment Comments on the enrollment issue can be emailed to boarded@aps.edu

He said the board has to be sensitive to schools that are overcrowded, while also considering the needs of homeless students or struggling families who have had to move in with other families.

Board member Analee Maestas voted against the policy change in committee. She said it would create unnecessary burdens for families, particularly those who are already disadvantaged.

“I think it’s an unreasonable request,” Maestas said. “I don’t think that we need to do that every year. I think it creates a barrier for our families and specifically for some of our immigrant population and our homeless students.”

Maestas said she would prefer a school-by-school approach, rather than a policy.

“I think we need to look at the individual schools where there’s a problem,” she said. “I don’t think we need to develop a policy because we have a few schools that are overcrowded.”

Joining Maestas in the vote against the policy change were new board members Don Duran and Steven Michael Quezada.

Enrollment policies have been in focus at APS this year, in part because of overcrowding at North Star Elementary School in the Northeast Heights. Part of the North Star issue stems simply from more families living in the neighborhood, but an audit of the school’s enrollment also found some families attending North Star who did not live in the area.

Currently, families only have to show proof of residency when they initially register at a school. This means families could potentially move out of a school’s attendance boundaries and continue going to school there.

According to the proposed new policy, families would have to provide proof of residence at the start of each school year. That could be a current driver’s license or other government-issued photo identification, a deed or mortgage payment dated within the past 60 days, a property tax bill dated within the past year, a current lease or Section 8 agreement, a utility bill dated within the past 60 days or a voter registration document with the address on it.

The detailed rules that accompany the proposed policy also specify that APS may require extra documentation at schools that are over capacity. For example, it could ask for more than one document proving residency.

Esquivel said the board will gather input over the next few weeks, possibly modify the proposal and vote on it within about a month.
— This article appeared on page C1 of the Albuquerque Journal