Slideshow of Wilson Mid School Students Balancing APS Budget Deficit

Photos: Middle School Students Role Play Budget Deficit - Photos - KOAT Albuquerque

Neat slideshow and story, but I would like to hear their recommendations. Does anyone have this information?

from KOAT

APS Affirms Migrant Policy

From the Albuquerque Journal

By Hailey Heinz
Journal Staff Writer
Affirming a policy that has been in writing since 2006 and in practice since before then, an Albuquerque Public Schools committee voted Monday to strengthen language banning immigration officials from its campuses.
The revision was passed with no discussion, and was one of nine policies updated at the meeting, part of a monthslong process of bringing the rules in closer alignment with what is actually being done in the schools.
The ban on immigration officials was laid out in a policy adopted in 2006 but has been inconsistent in the district's written rules.
The policy was adopted during APS's negotiations with lawyers for three Del Norte High School students from Chihuahua, Mexico, who were detained by the U.S. Border Patrol outside the school in March 2004.
That incident prompted a policy that banned school employees from investigating students' immigration status or offering any information about a student to immigration officials. The same rule also said school employees must initially deny immigration agents access to students on campus.
The 2006 policy directs school employees to ask administrators whether any request for information about or access to students by immigration officials is lawful before providing it.
The policy, which deals with keeping students safe on campus, currently requires "close monitoring" of all campus visitors, including law enforcement, social services and immigration officials. The proposed revision would strike that language and add a sentence that explicitly says, "Immigration officials shall not be permitted on school campus at any time."
Board member Lorenzo Garcia, who often speaks about the rights of immigrant students, said strengthening the language is a positive move.
"The important thing is to keep children safe," he said, adding that schools should establish an environment where students and parents feel secure.

Read the rest of the article here.

APS Holding Public Workshops on 2009-10 Budget

Get involved the APS budget process! Ensure the money is benefitting our students. APS is holding workshops on budget process. The last workshop, on May 14 will be held in the International District. Below is more info...

Albuquerque Public Schools will be hosting a series of workshops to offer parents, staff and the community an opportunity to learn more about the APS 2009-10 budget. The first workshop is scheduled for 7 p.m., Tuesday, May 5, at Mountain View Elementary School, 5317 2nd St. SW.

“As part of our transparent budget process, it is critical for the district to inform the public of some difficult choices we will be forced to make, and to take public input,” APS Superintendent Winston Brooks said. “We have a uniquely challenging year ahead of us.”

The workshops will give participants an overview of the budget, including projected revenues and expenditures; APS' focus on classroom resources; history and forecasts; anticipated student growth; capital construction; and changes from the 2008-09 budget.
A question and answer period will follow.

Other workshops are scheduled as follows:

7 p.m., Thursday, May 7
APS Aztec Complex
2611 Eubank NE

7 p.m., Tuesday, May 12
Taylor Middle School
8200 Guadalupe Trail NW

5 p.m., Thursday, May 14
Van Buren Middle School
700 Louisiana Blvd. SE

photo from Kittroid on Flickr