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Albuquerque Public Schools speeds construction on 17 projects
Ready, set, begin
These are some of the projects sharing $108 million in Albuquerque Public Schools funding that will put them on a fast track, pushing up completion dates by at least two years:
• Two new elementary schools in the northwest and southwest quadrants, opening in 2009 instead of 2011.
• Evening School, Freedom High and New Futures construction completed by summer 2009 instead of 2011.
• Susie Rayos Marmon and Georgia O'Keeffe modular schools replaced by 2009-10 instead of 2012.
• North Star Elementary classroom addition completed by 2008 instead of 2012.
• Del Norte High renovation completed by fall 2009 instead of 2012.
• West Side stadium completed as early as 2010 instead of 2014.
Source: Kizito Wijenje, executive director of APS capital master plan
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The school district is injecting $108 million into school construction and putting long-awaited projects on a fast track.
Some schools will be completed four years earlier than originally planned, said Kizito Wijenje, executive director of the Albuquerque Public Schools capital master plan.
"We'll have a three- to four-year jump on most of these projects," he said, referring to a list of 17 projects that will share the $108 million.
None of the projects are new. All have been on the drawing board, but funding to complete them, or start them in some cases, was not available until now.
Wijenje said the earlier the school district can build schools, the better because of rising construction costs.
"We'll realize a 15 to 20 percent savings for the taxpayers because the longer you wait to build a project, the more it goes up. This is a huge savings," he said.
For instance, five years ago it cost $12 million to build an elementary school; today the cost is $17 million, Wijenje said.
The Albuquerque Board of Education on Wednesday approved the plan to spend the $108 million, which comes from increased property tax revenues, interest on bonds and mill levies, a $70 million loan from the state and unused balances from previous capital projects.
Each year the district reviews its tax and interest revenues in order to forecast additional funds for capital projects and determine how they will be spent.
Wijenje said the district did not budget all of the funds identified, leaving $31 million in an emergency contingency.
He said another plan will be developed to help charter schools with their construction needs. The district is working with the six largest charter schools to come up with criteria for allocating capital dollars, Wijenje said.
Board member Robert Lucero, whose West Side district stands to gain the most from the $108 million, said he'll keep the pressure on to relieve crowding in his schools.
"Any time we can build schools faster, we need that on the West Side," he said. "It's going to make a huge difference to have these schools opened sooner on the West Side."
