Jose de Wit
SUN Staff Writer
A cost-cutting plan recently released by Gov. Bill Richardson put school districts’ unused legislative capital outlay funding on the chopping block and has districts bracing for potential budget cuts.
Richardson’s plan aims to save up to $300 million by cutting funding for capital projects that are “stalled, under-funded, or not up-to-date in their financial reporting,” according to information provided by spokesman Gilbert Gallegos.
For the Mesa Vista School District, that puts on the line $271,000 the District received to replace its track, according to materials submitted to the state Education Department. Supertinendent Robert Archuleta told his School Board at a Nov. 1 meeting the District hasn’t used the award because it is only enough to partially refurbish the track.
All districts were required to report progress on capital projects funded by legislative appropriations to the Department by Oct. 31 so they could be reviewed by the state Department of Finance and Administration.
The Española School District reported progress on 18 capital awards. It has spent all but $166,620 of $1.8 million in outstanding appropriations, according to a report submitted to the Department.
That leaves two appropriations — $21,620 to build additional classrooms at Hernandez Elementary and $140,000 to build athletic fields at Española middle school — untouched, and potentially vulnerable to cuts.
Superintendent David Cockerham is not worried.
“Those appropriations, basically, they’re pork. The legislature lets that happen, they’ll have a lot of unhappy folks at home,” he said.
The governor’s plan tackles only legislative appropriations, which are sponsored by lawmakers at the end of each legislative session and must be authorized by the governor. It does not address funding distributed by the Public School Capital Outlay Council, which most districts rely on to fund construction and comes from a pot of funding set aside by law in 2003.
The plan also leaves in limbo a $134,000 appropriation awarded the Española Military Academy to design a new facility. The Española School District rejected the award in June, but state Sen. Richard Martinez (D-Española), who sponsored the appropriation, said he would seek to get it reapproved during the next legislative session. He did not return several calls for comment. Academy Board President Patrick Trujillo declined to comment, saying he is not familiar with Richardson’s plan.
So far, the plan has left school districts’ operating budgets intact, even as it froze hiring at state agencies’ and cut their budgets by 5 percent. But legislators and state officials told districts to prepare for cuts down the road.
“It would be prudent for districts to begin to review their budgets and to implement revenue and energy efficiency measures in advance of any potential mandates,” state Education Secretary Veronica Garcia informed superintendents in an Oct. 23 memo. “It is possible that districts and charter schools may be required to do their part.”
In a controversial letter to superintendents six days later, state Senate President Pro Tem Tim Jennings (D-Chaves) urged districts statewide to prepare for cuts even within this school year.
“Districts need to be prepared in fiscal year 2009 and fiscal year 2010 to pare back spending and in a worst case scenario prepare for a reduction in force to meet anticipated reductions in revenue,” he wrote.
Gilbert Gallegos, a spokesman for the Governor’s Office, said Jennings’ warning of staff cuts was premature. Though the plan is to avoid cutting school budgets, the possibility is not off the table, Gallegos said.
“Jennings was riding alone on that one,” Gallegos said.
State Rep. Mimi Stewart (D-Bernalillo), a member of the Legislative Education Study Committee, said Jennings’ letter represents only his opinion, not the view of most lawmakers.
“It didn’t come from the legislature, it didn’t come from the Governor and it certainly didn’t come from house leadership,” Stewart said. “I don’t believe there should be any cuts to education. We are already underfunding public schools, and the state constitution clearly says the legislature must fund schools sufficiently so students can learn.”
Nonetheless, New Mexico school districts have started to prepare, though to different extents. Albuquerque School District Superintendent Winston Brooks announced last week a hiring freeze effective Monday on “non-essential” personnel, spokeswoman Johanna King said.
In Rio Arriba County, school districts have not gone so far, but Chama School District Supertintendent Manuel Valdez and Dulce School District Superintendent Ralph Friedly have already met with administrators to discuss potential cuts.
“I really don’t know where we can cut, when 94 percent of our budget is salaries. Staff is the only place you can cut,” Friedly said. “And cutting people midway through year is an extremely difficult thing to do.”