APS gives stakeholders tour of facilities

For some Albuquerque Public Schools stakeholders, Tuesday’s tour of APS facilities may have seemed like a day back at school.

At about 8 a.m., they arrived at APS Food and Nutrition Services, where they were served breakfast and given a presentation by school officials on the district’s infrastructure initiatives.

Then, the group of about 30 took a bus to Arroyo del Oso Elementary School, the Dr. J. Patrick Garcia Transportation and Educational Complex, the APS Police Command Center; and the Career Enrichment Center and Early College Academy Magnet High School.

The group was done with the tour before the first bells went off, signifying the end of the school day.

The tour came as APS looks ahead to a bond election year in 2025, though the Board of Education has yet to approve one. The district also faces a tough dynamic: even though it can tout capital facility improvements, economic challenges like inflation prevent APS from completing all of its projects.

Kizito Wijenje, executive director of the APS Capital Master Plan, brought up construction inflation in an interview, saying the cost of constructing a building has gone up from $300 per square foot to $800.

“That’s a major problem,” Wijenje said. “It’s just something we have to go back to the taxpayer and (help them) understand we can’t do projects as quickly as we would like to.”

School bonds and mill levies help fund APS capital projects. APS also has a capital master plan, a strategic document that evaluates and estimates all capital needs for the district — including not only buildings but equipment and technology.

APS has more than 1,700 buildings, which span over 17 million square feet, according to an informational video produced by the district that was shown during the tour.

Wijenje, who has worked for the district for 25 years, has organized informational bus tours before. Following the pandemic, he said he would like to conduct them regularly. This year is particularly important because of the upcoming bond election year.

“That is part of it, but it is also to give an update to what we are doing, where we are,” he said, “and to get some feedback of what is working (and) what is not working.”

One of the stakeholders on the tour was Carla Kugler, president and CEO of Associated Builders and Contractors-New Mexico Chapter, a trade association with members who work with APS on projects. Kugler also sits on the community-capital advisory committee, which assists APS with its Capital Plan.

“It was really nice to take in the entire picture during this tour,” said Kugler, who had never been on the tour before. “While we meet on a quarterly basis and discuss (the capital plan), we don’t get to see it.”

She added that her belief is that while people tend to think capital projects are brick-and-mortar, “it’s actually even human capital.”

Tina Reames, president of CSR Architects, which renovated part of the Career Enrichment Center in 2022, was invited to go on the tour. She has been invited to other APS informational bus tours before as not only an architect, but a member of the “Yes for Our Children’s Future” committee, which helps raise money for advertising during a bond election.

One of the topics that most interested Reames was APS’ security measures. At the command center, officials showed her and other stakeholders a video about the latest security measures, including vestibules and the ALICE (alert, lockdown, inform, counter and evacuate) protocol.

“Just having the facts and the data that they share with us is always good because it’s talking points for future conversations with people,” Reames said. “When you hear people say, ‘Oh, the school system is so bad.’ If they’re being negative about it, I think going on these tours is just a huge positive, then it tells what the taxpayers’ money is doing and what APS is doing with it.”

For as long as he has been conducting informational tours, Wijenje said people are always surprised at what it takes to run a school district.

“People usually think teachers, technology, school materials — but they don’t think about nutrition, security, career opportunities or internships,” he said. “It really does take a village to do this. Everyone can be of service and contribute.”