Angèlica Ruiz
I am excited to announce that, together with Superintendent Bobbie Gutierrez, the Santa Fe Public Schools Board of Education is hosting a public dialogue tonight from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Santa Fe High School Commons to discuss critical education funding issues.
Over the past few weeks, superintendents and board presidents from throughout the state have received letters and information from various legislators advising that there could be as much as an additional 10 percent cut — in Santa Fe, $7.6 million — to current-year operational budgets as a result of the special session that begins Oct. 17. These letters have created widespread uncertainty and nervousness throughout the SFPS district.
Governor Richardson has countered by continuing to state that he does not support cuts to education. In response to the unsettled feelings surrounding our district’s ability to sustain such a tremendous financial hit, Gutierrez recently stated, “All of this has been quite disheartening, somewhat confusing and mostly frustrating.”
The focus of this study session will be to educate elected officials, parents and our community about the current issues at hand pertaining to public school funding and what additional cuts to the current operational budget could mean to the Santa Fe Public Schools. In addition, Superintendent Gutierrez will provide some potential solutions to the elected officials present for reducing the projected cuts for SFPS.
Our superintendent and her team will also discuss with our local and state elected officials, parents and community members what they can do to help in protecting education from large cuts.
Understanding that education cannot be immune to cuts
Superintendent Gutierrez has teamed up with other public school superintendents from throughout the state over the past two weeks to advocate for no budget cuts to education; however, they have also made it clear to legislators, the governor and Legislative Finance Committee that if additional cuts have to be made, those decisions need to be left to the local districts given the diversity of districts around the state.
Realistically, I understand that education cannot be immune to further budgetary cuts as we are a piece of the larger financial picture for our state. However, I believe that we as a district have a responsibility to provide all of our elected officials and community with the best and most accurate information we have available to us to help support our legislators in making quality, data- driven decisions on our behalf.
As board president, I believe it’s unrealistic to enter into the special session on Oct. 17 thinking that education will emerge unscathed with regard to budget cuts. We have to take a proactive role in defining the outcome for this session by unifying ourselves with our legislators and local elected officials.
The intent of tonight’s study session is for SFPS to become part of the solution for the extremely difficult decisions that rest upon the shoulders of our legislative delegation. Superintendent Gutierrez is visionary, strategic and experienced. It is my hope that her suggestions will become tools for our legislators to use as they seek collaboration around how budget cuts will ultimately affect SFPS and districts throughout the our state.
The board of education and superintendent have received RSVPs from several Legislators, city and county officials and representatives from the New Mexico Public Education Department to attend this very important study session along with many parents, students, staff and community members.
Ruiz currently serves as the president of the SFPS Board of Education. Gutierrez contributed to this column.