Matching funds requirement irks school safety advocates
After 17 deaths in a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February, the school security conversation became much louder.
In New Mexico, just weeks after the Florida massacre, legislation was signed into law for millions of dollars to be set aside for school safety measures.
But now some are speaking out after learning that districts will have to match a percentage of the money — an estimation of up to $1 million in the case of Albuquerque Public Schools.
While $40 million was set aside through Senate Bill 239, districts still have to meet some eligibility
requirements before they can get the money. In a memo sent to districts earlier this month, the Public School Capital Outlay Council outlined the prerequisites for districts to get access to the funds, including the match.
State Sen. George Munoz, D-Gallup, sponsor of the bill that allowed the use of council funding for school security, said money meant to keep kids safe shouldn’t rely on how much individual districts can afford.
“Not all schools have money to match ... so that disqualifies some of the schools that can’t afford it,” he said.
Munoz said it wasn’t his intent — nor does he believe it was the Legislature’s intent — for the match to apply to this funding.
“If it was, I would have written into the bill that made it clear there was no match,” he said.
Munoz said the safety of kids should be the No. 1 priority, and the match could hinder that.
“I don’t get the reason for the match at all,” he said.
But Executive Director Jonathan Chamblin of the New Mexico Public School Facilities Authority noted that state law in place since the early 2000s requires districts to match a certain percentage when getting state funding for school capital improvement projects.
Chamblin said each district is expected to match a certain percentage based on a funding formula that takes into account a district’s net taxable value and the number of students enrolled during the preceding year. And while it varies by a couple of percentage points year to year, it stays relatively consistent.
“It boils down to the formula attempts to provide more state funding for poorer districts,” he said.
Chamblin pointed to language in the bill that says funding will be determined through council methodology and cites state statute that outlines the match process.
But there have been instances in which schools have been able to do improvements without using their own money.
Possible big bill for APS
Sen. Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, a member of the Public School Capital Outlay Oversight Task Force, said the council has the ability to waive some of the requirements in the event of emergencies.
At the turn of the century, there was a list of critical problems with some facilities in New Mexico that weren’t safe or up to code, and those projects were exempt from the match, according to Chamblin.
But Stewart said the school security money didn’t fall under an emergency exemption since districts have been working on school security for years.
Munoz, however, had a different sentiment, saying kids are more focused today on fear than learning.
“We are talking about something that is real and happening right now,” he said.
On a district level, Kizito Wijenje, APS executive director of capital master planning, agrees there shouldn’t be a match, saying school safety resources shouldn’t depend on whether a district can allocate funds, especially when the Legislature already set the money aside.
“Security money shouldn’t be contingent on whether the district can pay for it,” he said.
Wijenje predicted APS will ask for upward of $2 million to $3 million and have to match 50 percent.
He noted that many districts have been working on their budgets for months and may have not planned for the school security obligation.
At a recent Capital Outlay, Property, and Technology Committee meeting, Superintendent Raquel Reedy said she may send a letter to the Public School Capital Outlay Council, asking it to reconsider that requirement in this specific case.
Surprise in Rio Rancho
Las Cruces Public Schools spokesman Damien Willis said the Las Cruces district did anticipate it would have to match some of the money, though the local match will limit the amount LCPS asks for to some degree.
“But the match is not particularly prohibitive, and we believe we’ll be able to use the funding to improve security at several schools throughout the district,” he said, adding that LCPS has to pay 34 percent.
In contrast, Rio Rancho Public Schools spokeswoman Beth Pendergrass said the district hadn’t anticipated it would need to put its own funding toward the projects.
She said Rio Rancho — which has a match percentage of 33 — is still determining how much it will request but was optimistic the match wouldn’t limit the district’s request.
And Santa Fe Public Schools Superintendent Veronica Garcia said she wasn’t sure the Santa Fe district would apply for any money at all, saying officials are still reviewing the requirements. In addition to the match, the districts also have to provide an assessment of a school’s security system. Chamblin said the preferred methodology is for districts to work with first responders or law enforcement to conduct the review.
He said the applications will be ranked based on need, meaning money will go to the least secure schools first.
There are also things the money can’t be spent on, including school resource officers and reimbursement for previous expenses.
The memo, which was dated June 1, was sent out the same day Attorney General Hector Balderas wrote to the Public Education Department, urging the state agency to take advantage of other funding streams.
“While the New Mexico Legislature has appropriated critical capital outlay funds for our schools, we know that resources will continue to be a challenge for New Mexican schools,” he wrote, suggesting that PED apply for federal grants set aside by Congress for school safety initiatives.
The deadline for local districts to apply for the state money is July 27. Scoring will be announced to districts in September with the official review process expected to take until October.
The time frame worries Munoz, who notes school will have been in session a couple of months by that time. He said the schedule is another reason the money shouldn’t require a match, because schools need to be secured immediately, not after bond elections or when each district comes up with the necessary funding.
“Common sense tells you a match doesn’t work in this short of time frame,” he said.
NOT ALL SCHOOLS HAVE MONEY TO MATCH ... SO THAT DISQUALIFIES SOME OF THE SCHOOLS THAT CAN’T AFFORD IT. STATE SENATOR GEORGE MUNOZ D-GALLUP