Albuquerque Public School enrollment drops again

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — An Albuquerque Public Schools Board committee revealed new enrollment numbers during a meeting Wednesday that show the number of students in the district has dropped again.

The new numbers show there are more than 2,500 fewer students compared to one year ago. It’s a drop of nearly 9,000 kids over the last three years, which is a decrease of 11%.

Fewer students mean APS receives less funding. The district reports that it gets $11,000 per student per year.

One presenter in the Finance Committee said enrollment is expected to continue to decline.

In the meeting, the APS board passed the budget, which will go into effect July 1. The total budget for the upcoming fiscal year is more than $2.1 billion.

Committee members said the new operational budget is a 12.3% increase compared to the previous year. They said nearly half of that amount is from salary increases.

APS Superintendent Scott Elder said the budget aligns with the new goals the district recently set.