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The state Attorney General's Office's opinion is out: The Albuquerque Board of Education has no authority to create a full-fledged school police force.

Board member Robert Lucero said late Tuesday the opinion issued that day does not change the board's policy allowing officers to carry guns, but it might put the brakes on pay increases competitive with local law enforcement agencies.

"Why would you pay a security force what you pay a police force? What we have is a security force unless the Legislature does something to change that," he said.

Some school board members have mentioned seeking legislation to change state law and allow a school district to create a police force, Lucero said, "but I won't support that. The attorney general says the Albuquerque Police Department and the (Bernalillo County) sheriff are responsible for law enforcement."

Lucero has been a staunch advocate of letting the Police Department and Sheriff's Department provide the law enforcement for schools, saying he doesn't want educational dollars diverted to police work.

He said it would be a waste of time to push a legislative measure because the Legislature in the past has rejected the idea of allowing the district to create a police force.

Under its current arrangement with the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department and board policy, the district has about 30 commissioned officers who are allowed to carry weapons at all times.

For several years, the officers lobbied the board for permission to carry their guns around the clock; they had not been allowed to be armed during school hours.

The policy was changed in early November, and the officers have been armed ever since.

Officers also have urged the board to raise their pay to a level competitive with local law enforcement agencies. Negotiations with the officers union were expected to focus on phasing in higher wages.

Arming police and higher wages were the recommendations of a citizen task force and endorsed by Albuquerque Public Schools Superintendent Beth Everitt and the school board. However, three of the seven board members, including Lucero, opposed policy changes until the attorney general issued an opinion.

The board's own attorney, Art Melendres, had advised the board and the task force that state law did not authorize a school board to create a police force.

Universities and colleges, however, can create their own campus police forces.