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PED outlines FY27 budget priorities and rolls out statutory school-board training plan
Summary
Secretary Padilla presented PED's FY27 public school support request, including recurring asks for accountability systems, literacy and educator pipelines, and introduced a SB137-mandated school-board training program with reporting and pilot tracking; lawmakers questioned funding stability, turnovers and enforcement.
Public Education Department Secretary Padilla presented the department's early FY27 public school support request and a plan to implement Senate Bill 137 school-board training requirements.
The budget ask and priorities: Padilla said the FY27 submission was filed earlier than usual and aligns with the Martinez-Yazzie action plan. The presentation highlighted a range of priorities: educator recruitment and quality (including a $20 million educator fellows program and $300,000 for Grow Your Own scholarships), $57 million for literacy, $42.2 million for student nutrition and universal school meals, $24.8 million for accountability (including $16.3 million for assessments and funding for the statewide SIS), and various recurring and perf/GROW-funded initiatives such as high-impact tutoring and CTE supports. Padilla noted the FY26 appropriation included $12 million for SIS startup and that PED is requesting $8.5 million recurring for FY27 for SIS and related systems.
School-board training under SB137: David Minson, PED's school board coordinator, summarized SB137 training obligations (10 hours for first-term members in their first year; at least 5 hours annually for returning members) and described implementation steps: a two-year rollout, presenter and course approvals, NM VISTAs reporting, PED-developed Canvas modules for rural access, a QR-code pilot to track attendance and quizzes, and a $1.5 million implementation request for training, monitoring and contractor support. Minson emphasized quality assurance and public reporting of hours.
Accountability and enforcement questions: Committee members pressed PED on enforcement, asking what happens if board members do not complete training. Padilla said PED can investigate complaints and use accreditation processes to report and escalate noncompliance; she noted statutory limitations on removing individual board members (removal of an entire board is the statutory path) and described alternative tools such as letters of direction and referrals to the state auditor or attorney general where relevant. Several legislators urged stronger statutory teeth to remove individual noncompliant board members.
Operational questions raised: Lawmakers probed vacancy rates at PED (Frosted and Padilla said recent funded vacancy rates ran roughly 12—15%), asked about who conducts math/STEM training (Padilla said NMSU is a partner), and requested follow-up materials including an org chart, program evaluations for the educator fellows program and detailed procurement and contract caps for the SIS deal.
What happens next: Padilla said PED will continue work on the Martinez-Yazzie action plan, provide requested follow-ups to the committee, and pilot the school-board attendance tracking at regional meetings; the committee signaled it will review budget recommendations at the October meeting.
