Finance committee recommends board accept opioid-settlement awards, pre-K homeless grant and CTE funds

The Albuquerque Public Schools Finance Committee on July 23 recommended that the full School Board approve several grant budget adjustments, including opioid-settlement funds that staff said will support behavioral-health positions, a first-time state grant for pre‑K students experiencing homelessness and career-and-technical-education awards for two high schools.

The committee’s action is a recommendation to the board; final approval will occur when the board considers the consent agenda. Committee Chair Crystal Tapia Romero presided over the meeting.

Why it matters: committee members said the opioid-settlement awards and the new early-childhood grant are targeted investments intended to expand behavioral-health services and supports to vulnerable students. Board members asked how the district will track outcomes and said they want interagency reporting that shows how the grants affect students and families.

Finance staff member Montoya told the committee the district “has received notification of an award from the city and county’s $50.50 opioid settlement funds, and these funds are designated to support 24 new behavioral health therapist positions over the next 3 years.” Board member Heather Benavides described the district’s portion of the settlement differently, saying, “I am so pleased that we have brought $3,600,000 to the district for this work.”

Montoya also described a grant from the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD) aimed specifically at supporting pre‑K students who are experiencing homelessness. “This is a first time grant specifically targeted to support the needs of pre k homeless students,” Montoya said.

The committee heard that two CTE grants of $25,000 each were awarded to Cibola High School and La Cueva High School to support electrical-engineering laboratory work. Montoya said that a remaining portion of an initial $40,000 allocation will be kept in the budget for conservation work at the Sandia Mountain Natural History Center.

In discussion, Board member Josefina Dominguez asked how the district will monitor and report outcomes from the opioid-settlement funding. Dominguez said she hopes the district can “somehow find a way to use to share data from the district wherever this money is used to track how it impacts the families.” Staff responded that reporting is connected to the award and that the funds are allocated “for very specific initiatives” rather than unrestricted dollars. Staff noted the funds are intended to expand current school-based counseling and related services.

Benavides offered to share materials presented at Local Government Coordination Committee (LGCC) meetings and said data on services has been supplied at prior LGCC sessions. Dominguez raised that some contracted programs (she cited Crossroads) have lacked data and expressed hope the new resources will help the district build stronger tracking.

The committee voted to recommend consent-agenda approval of the grant budget adjustments; the motion was made by Board member Heather Benavides, seconded by Board member Reynaldo Tomorita, and recorded as “yes” by Tomorita, Benavides, Josefina Dominguez and Chair Crystal Tapia Romero.

Less critical details: committee members did not set program-level operational changes in the meeting; staff said additional reporting requirements tied to the awards will be fulfilled as part of grant management.