Las Cruces Public Schools previews $353 million preliminary budget, emphasizes safety, health and classroom resources

Las Cruces Public Schools officials on an evening town-hall presented a preliminary FY25–26 budget totaling about $353 million and discussed priorities that district leaders say will emphasize campus safety, student health and instructional resources.

Deputy Superintendent Chengy Alex Liu said the district’s year‑round, “bottom up” budget process — driven by school‑level committees, parents, staff and a facilitator — produced record participation, including substantial student input. “If I can change a lesson plan based on student feedback, I can change a district budget based on student feedback,” Liu said.

District Budget Director Matthew Saenz gave a numeric snapshot: the working FY25 budget stands at roughly $341 million and the preliminary FY25–26 proposal is about $353 million, an approximately 3% increase. Saenz said the district is still finalizing figures with the New Mexico Public Education Department and does not anticipate major changes but expects some minor adjustments.

Why it matters: district leaders said the proposed shifts would direct a larger share of dollars to classroom functions — about 77% under the preliminary plan — and fund safety and wellness projects residents prioritized in the community survey. Saenz and Liu repeatedly framed the plan as driven by site‑level priorities collected over a year of outreach and a ThoughtExchange survey facilitated by Dr. Barbati.

Major categories and amounts presented - Safety and related projects: FY25 safety projects (reported completed) were estimated at about $2.1 million. Planned FY26 safety projects were estimated at $10.9 million and include weapons‑detection systems for middle and high schools, districtwide camera upgrades, two‑way radio upgrades, track renovations at all four comprehensive high schools, continued playground maintenance and continued staffing of school resource officers (SROs) and security guards. Saenz said the district currently has 10 SROs and roughly 70 security guards. - Facilities and capital: a multi‑year facilities program was listed at an estimated $42.7 million, with ongoing projects including Columbia Elementary (phase 1 opening anticipated July 16), Hermosa reroof, East Picacho HVAC (design phase) and previous completions such as additions at Desert Hills and Fair Acres. - Instructional resources: FY25 instructional resources were reported at about $7.65 million; FY26 instructional resources were estimated at $11 million. Saenz said the district will expand STEM outreach, increase the number of offered programs, continue textbook adoptions, sustain platforms for math and reading, and expand extracurricular activity funding (career/technical student organizations and athletics for grades 8–12). Fine arts funding will continue and now includes mariachi in addition to band, choir and orchestra. - Health and wellness: a new priority for FY26, health spending was estimated at $7 million to fund nurses, health assistants, equipment and athletic trainers; wellness supports were estimated at $10.7 million and include counseling, social‑emotional learning, additional school‑based counselors/social workers, threat assessment and attendance programs.

State and benefits context Saenz summarized legislative changes the district is tracking: House Bill 2 was described as providing a 4% salary increase for public school personnel; the presentation referenced a related Senate Bill 345 (minimum teacher salary levels cited in the meeting as $55,000 for Level 1, $65,000 for Level 2 and $75,000 for Level 3) and House Bill 195 authorizing nurse pay parity and eligibility for national board certification stipends. Saenz cautioned that federal funding streams do not automatically cover the 4% salary increase, creating operational pressure on district funds.

Benefits costs noted in the presentation included a projected medical cost increase of about 9.9% and dental of about 4%; vision costs were described as unchanged. The district said it will maintain an 80/20 and 90/10 employer/employee match structure for this budget year.

Staffing, class sizes and rightsizing Liu and Saenz said the district intends to keep the same staffing levels in the proposed FY26 budget. Liu described a “rightsizing” approach tied to enrollment shifts rather than layoffs: schools with rising enrollment would receive additional teachers and supplies; schools with declining enrollment would not face supply cuts (he described a “whole harmless” approach for supply funding). Saenz referenced state requirements (NMSA citation provided during the meeting) for class‑load maximums and explained how those statutes factor into staffing allocations.

School budgets: rollover program and site autonomy Liu described a new “unspent budget rolled over” program that allows schools to roll over about 90% of unspent site budgets to the next year to support larger purchases (for example, printers or CTE equipment), a policy intended to encourage prudent spending rather than a year‑end “spend it or lose it” rush.

Community engagement and next steps Officials said the FY26 priorities were drawn from a community survey and outreach performed since August; Saenz noted targeted student engagement (surveys administered during advisory periods, with incentives and bilingual outreach). The district plans to take the budget to the Board finance subcommittee (Saenz said that meeting is next Thursday) and to seek board adoption on May 20. Officials said any material changes would be posted publicly and require board approval.

What officials did not finalize Saenz cautioned the figures are a snapshot and that some vendor invoices and recurring staffing costs related to new safety or wellness programming were being finalized; recurring contracts and implementation details remain subject to the annual budget adjustment (BAR) process and board approval. Where transcript remarks did not provide a numeric detail (for example specific recurring operating costs for certain new services), officials said those items are still being determined.

Ending: Officials invited the public to review the district’s live budget data online and to attend the finance subcommittee and the May 20 board meeting for final action.