APS board greenlights plan to repurpose Duranes Elementary School

The Albuquerque Public Schools board is moving forward with a plan to repurpose Duranes Elementary School, voting unanimously Wednesday evening to reassign its attendance area to nearby Reginald Chavez and Cochiti elementary schools.

Duranes would be converted into an early childhood center under the plan, and students’ reassigned attendance areas would be effective this fall.

The move is part of a larger strategy to right-size APS’ facilities amid declining enrollment, which according to district data from earlier this year is down about 13,400 students from five years earlier.

Duranes, according to that data, appeared to have the second-lowest number of students of APS’ elementary schools.

Still, some Duranes families on Tuesday were upset by the prospect of losing their school.

“I feel sad. I don’t want it like that, (to) close down,” said Ricardo “Ricky” Martinez, who noted he’s had three children so far attend the school. “... I want to keep it open. I have my last daughter, … and I want to bring her in the future to this school.”

During Wednesday’s meeting, however, no one turned out to speak during public comment against the proposal. In general, schools subject to right-sizing have been “relatively open to understanding that this is happening,” incoming Superintendent Gabriella Blakey said.

Under the new boundaries, the bulk of Duranes’ students would go to Cochiti. Specifically, those living north of Duranes and Rice NW and east of Rio Grande NW will be assigned to Cochiti, while those on the other side would go to Reginald Chavez.

In a departure from what district officials said Tuesday, Blakey said Duranes’ staff wouldn’t necessarily all go with students because low enrollment in the schools they would be going to may not warrant a whole new teacher.

But staff who don’t move with their students would meet with district and school officials to find out where openings in APS are, where they would be priority hires.

Leaders of private early childhood centers have expressed concerns for some time about APS’ plans to open its own facilities.

East Gate Kids Early Learning Center Executive Director Gabrielle Wheeler, for example, has doubts about the quality of care APS early childhood centers would provide compared with private ones, which she argues benefit from more specialized facilities, better-trained teachers and less turnover.

She also expressed concerns about the public school system encroaching on her business.

“APS is already a system that’s not thriving, and it’s not producing results,” she said. “... There’s more of a family-like setting in a community-based program.”