$71 million more heading to NM public and charter schools after midyear funding adjustment

Jun. 24—New Mexico public school districts and charter schools will receive an additional $71 million after an increase to the unit value — an important number in the state's funding formula.

The Legislative Finance Committee announced the increase on Wednesday. Superintendents were notified of the increase in a letter dated June 10.

In January, the Legislature funded a 5% increase in the unit value from the previous year, a total of $6,553.75 per unit. The Public Education Department came back with a more conservative figure, a 3.2% increase for a total $6,442.55 per unit.

Mike Hyatt, superintendent for Gallup McKinley County School District, called this year's difference "significant."

"There's never enough money to cover all your costs and needs for education," Hyatt said. "When the unit value is short, you might not be able to cover all those costs."

The 3.2% increase was quickly "gobbled up" by 3% staff raises approved by the Legislature along with increased benefits costs, said Santa Fe Public Schools Superintendent Hilario "Larry" Chavez.

Chavez and other superintendents said that staffing costs make up the vast majority of a district's budget.

Los Lunas Public Schools Superintendent Ryan Kettler also pointed to the expiration of COVID-era dollars.

Kettler said the district was planning to dip into cash reserves to cover costs given the initial unit value and cut some programming. Now, Kettler said, the district can avoid using as much of the reserves. The increase put a lot of school districts — including Los Lunas — "more at ease financially."

Romero said the PED typically holds back funding to prevent decreases in the unit value as enrollment data becomes more accurate. Typically, as enrollment data firm up, the unit value is adjusted in January. But this year PED made the adjustment in the summer to ensure those dollars could be spent on students right away.

Romero said he's been trying to move the timeline up and felt comfortable about increasing the value to 5% given available data.

"When they released the updated memo, increasing the unit value, that really brought a lot of relief and joy to superintendents across the state," Chavez said.

Chavez said by making the adjustment in the summer, school districts have the opportunity to hire or expand programming. When the adjustment comes during the winter, "it's a little too late" as programming decisions have already been made.

Because the unit value is multiplied by enrollment, districts will see some big funding bumps. Albuquerque Public Schools will see a $16 million increase; Las Cruces Public Schools is expecting a $5 million bump; Santa Fe Public Schools will be boosted by $2 million.

Romero said that expected increases to health and risk insurance rates were also lessened. In a release from the Legislative Finance Committee, it said discussions between the state agencies and legislative committees and the Public Schools Insurance Authority resulted in an expected savings of $26 million for schools around the state.

As budgets are already completed, districts can request a budget adjustment.