Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education members will discuss the district’s progress toward increasing math proficiency at Wednesday’s regular meeting.
Administrators Dr. Antonio Gonzales, Dr. Channell Segura and Dr. Richard Bowman, will also present the board with information on how APS is doing on interim goals, which set targets for certain subgroups of middle school students.
The main goal — one of four in the district’s Emerging Stronger strategic plan — calls for improvement by 2028 in the proficiency of Black students and those identified in the Yazzie-Martinez decision.
In that 2018 decision, the late First Judicial District Court Judge Sarah Singleton ruled that New Mexico was not adequately funding public education as mandated in the state constitution, to the detriment of at-risk students – a group that includes impoverished children, Indigenous students, those learning English, and children with disabilities.
APS’ goal is for the percentage of eighth-grade students in those groups who demonstrate grade level proficiency or above to increase from 11.1% in May 2023 to 21.1% in May 2028. APS data included in the agenda shows that Black and Yazzie-Martinez students’ proficiency rate was less than a quarter of the 50.7% proficiency rate for all other students. Black and Yazzie-Martinez students comprised over three-quarters of the students tested last school year.
No action items
The agenda includes no action items. The board could pull items from the consent agenda to be considered. Consent agendas are passed with one vote and there is no discussion on individual items unless a board member asks for an item to be pulled and put on the regular agenda for action. Consent agenda items include:
- Updating the board’s nondiscrimination policy to include language regarding federally protected groups not previously included, although no new groups were listed.
- Approval of a superintendent evaluation process. The proposed language states the job of the Board of Education is to “represent the vision and values of the community,” while the superintendent’s job is to implement the vision and values of the community through the metrics adopted by the board. According to the proposed policy, the board will evaluate the superintendent based on progress toward district goals.
- Possible amendments to the Board of Education governance manual emphasizing the board president’s role in seeking legal counsel on the board’s behalf. The proposed change would clarify that only the board president will seek legal advice on issues not authorized by board approval. That item also says board members will not give directives or instructions to district or school employees and identifies the superintendent as the board’s only employee.
Get involved
The APS Board meeting is at 5 p.m. March 20, in the John Milne Community Board Room at district headquarters, 6400 Uptown Blvd. It will also be live-streamed at aps.edu.