Listen up: The APS school board to host 'listening sessions' on the budget

The Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education is gearing up for the first of two “listening sessions” the community can attend to give feedback on next year’s budget.

The first session is scheduled for Thursday at the Berna Facio Professional Development Center, 3315 Louisiana NE. This session will be livestreamed on the district’s YouTube channel.

The second is on Monday at Jimmy Carter Middle School, 8901 Bluewater NW. It will not be livestreamed. Both meetings will be from 5-6:30 p.m.

“We’re looking forward to getting as many ideas as we embark on the process for the next school year,” APS Superintendent Gabriella Blakey said in a news release. “We want this to truly be a listening session so our board and staff can get a sense of what the public wants and needs for their schools.”

The seven-member school board is responsible for approving APS’s budget, which must be completed by the spring before it is presented to the New Mexico Public Education Department. APS’ budget for the current school year is $2.15 billion, an increase from the $1.9 billion the year before.

Board member Courtney Jackson said in an interview that the upcoming listening sessions mark the first time they will be held in October, as opposed to February, so community members can give feedback before the budget starts to be built.

“It (also) gives the district time to ... build the budget to align to those priorities,” Jackson said.

She said the listening sessions mark the start of the budgeting process. Following the sessions, the board will collect the feedback and share it in a public document, which will be used to help district officials craft a budget proposal, she said.

The district makes budget preparations as the legislative session in Santa Fe begins in January, according to information provided by APS. Once the session is over in February or March, the district holds “build your budget” workshops with its schools before those budgets are submitted to the district for review. In May, the district makes budget presentations to the school board, which approves the budget the following month. The final budget is then submitted to the PED.

Jackson encouraged the community to turn out to the listening sessions because it’s the duty of the school board to hear them speak.

“The board is focused on being transparent and accountable with ... community funds we are using for our children’s education,” Jackson said. “So I love it when people come.”