Special schools and NMMI tell Legislative Finance committee they face staff, insurance and capital shortfalls

Superintendent Herbold of the New Mexico School for the Deaf opened her presentation to the Legislative Finance committee with a budget update and a set of requests anchored in personnel and health‑insurance cost pressures. She said the school built its FY estimates on a conservative 2% salary increase while noting talk of 3% in the session, projected an ~8% rise in group health insurance and an 11% increase in risk‑management premiums. Herbold said the school is requesting capital outlay support — including $6,500,000 for the main building’s exterior and HVAC work — and a $300,000 activity bus to support student transportation. She also highlighted an expansion of tele‑audiology centers around the state and said the schools will rely on a mix of land‑grant, permanent fund and other designated sources to cover portions of those costs.

Superintendent Miller, representing the School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, told the committee the agency serves more than 2,000 children statewide and supplies braille, assistive technology and outreach services at no cost. Miller said those statewide services and rising vendor costs have driven an estimated FY need of roughly $4,000,000 when planned expansion and proposed salary and benefits increases are included. She identified an employer‑cost shift tied to the 80/20 health‑insurance proposal (which she estimated would add roughly $600,000 for her agency) and urged lawmakers to consider matching any salary pass‑throughs so the schools do not lose staff to better‑funded public districts.

Colonel David West, appearing for the New Mexico Military Institute while General McBurnett is abroad, described steady enrollment growth at NMMI and asked for targeted increases. He said NMMI seeks an additional $515,000 in legislative funding to close athletic‑transportation shortfalls (noting the institute currently receives $335,000) and requested $410,000 to expand the General Knowles legislative scholarship program so the program can better accommodate increased New Mexico resident enrollment.

Committee members asked a series of budget‑and‑policy questions, including whether CYFD places youth at NMMI (NMMI said it has not received such placements), whether the special schools participate in USDA lunch or other federal programs (they do not and said some services are reimbursed by Medicaid for eligible early‑intervention home visits), and how the schools’ per‑student costs compare to SEG funding. Superintendents cautioned that per‑student costs for residential and statewide outreach programs are higher than average SEG allocations and that some services (for example, statewide evaluation teams and outreach home visits) are partially reimbursed or funded from restricted sources.

What comes next: the committee took the presentations and committed to follow up on requested figures and the schools’ detailed cost calculations as budget negotiations continue.