APS committee: March town halls drew 41 people; board urges more school‑based outreach

The Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education Community Engagement Committee on April 21 reviewed turnout and participant demographics from two March town halls and discussed steps to boost future attendance.

The committee reported 30 attendees at the first town hall and 11 at the second, for a combined total of 41 participants. According to the attendance chart reviewed by the committee, the first event included one student, six attendees marking themselves as low‑income, three Native American attendees, four African‑American attendees and five English‑language learners. The second event had three attendees who identified as representing students with disabilities; other categories had lower or no representation at the second session.

"I just wanted to start by saying thank you to the staff that helped put that together and all of the attendees," the Chair said, praising staff and student performers who participated at the events.

Board members identified several reasons for the difference in turnout and offered specific outreach changes. Member Joshua Martinez said schools that promoted the event brought a larger audience and recommended holding more town halls at schools so families can visit campus and see programs firsthand. "There was a lot of promotion through the school," Martinez said, noting that his district school helped draw families through class‑level messaging.

Member Courtney Jackson urged more direct outreach by board members and suggested adding a sign‑in field such as "Do you have any students with you?" to better capture student attendance when parents register. Staff confirmed participants may select more than one engagement category on the sign‑in and noted chart annotations when attendees mark multiple categories.

Committee members also discussed using a communications coach to help board members improve outreach skills and asked staff to prepare an "at a glance" reminder describing expectations for board members at future listening and outreach events.

Actions taken at the start of the meeting were procedural. Member Jackson moved to adopt the April 21 agenda; Member Martinez seconded. A roll‑call vote (Joshua Martinez, Courtney Jackson, Janella Stoga) recorded unanimous approval. Member Jackson then moved to approve the minutes from the March 17, 2026 meeting; Member Martinez seconded and the motion carried on a unanimous roll‑call vote.

The committee said it will continue refining outreach tactics — including school‑based events, morning‑show appearances and direct principal outreach — to improve attendance and meet specified engagement goals. The committee is due to reconvene May 12.