LOS LUNAS — Los Lunas Schools recently approved a resolution for a special election following the loss of a crucial 3 mill levy.
On November’s ballot, voters had the opportunity to vote on a $24 million general obligation bond and the continuation of a 2 and 3 mill levy for LLS that all had no tax rate increase attached. While the GO bond and 2 mill passed, the 3 mill dedicated to technology did not.
“Overtime, technology has been growing and growing in our district and becoming so much more of everyday life, so the cost of technology is increasing,” LLS Chief Finance Officer Sandra Traczyk told the Los Lunas Schools Board of Education during its Dec. 19 meeting. “It’s very sad and hurtful to see that could be something we won’t have an avenue for.”
Traczyk said the 3 mill, which has been in continuation since 1998, provides about $3 million per year for the district to maintain and stay up to date with technology.
“It’s not like we can just stop spending on these things. There may be some things we can choose to discontinue, but for most part it’s going to be something that needs to be done,” said Traczyk. “The only other option is it will have to come out of our operational fund, which will be a tremendous burden, and our budget for the district will be hurt quite a bit by this.”
What the 3 mill affects
Michael Good, the district’s director of IT, highlighted all the items the 3 mill funded and how the loss is affecting, and will continue to affect, the district if not passed.
“It basically lost by 200 votes,” said Good. “My belief is the reason the 3 mill didn’t pass is because most people didn’t know what they were voting for or against. I think we can do a better job of identifying it on the ballot, which is why we’re requesting this special election.”
Good said the 3 mill is a primary source of funding for student and staff iPads and Macbooks used daily.
“We have about 10,000 mobile devices. There’s a five-year life cycle for iPads and we purchase about 1,800 new Macbooks every two years,” said Good.
“It used to be that technology wasn’t necessarily one of the premiere departments in the district, but these days technology is much more front and center.”
Good said the tax also funds core routers and servers, WiFi controllers and a fire wall, which are all necessary to run a district. It also funds subscriptions that provide online data backup, cyber security and more.
“(It funds) a mobile device management system for all Apple devices, which is a major expenditure and we couldn’t survive without a tool like that. Also the help desk for tracking tech work orders that’s used on a daily basis,” said Good. “It supports student and staff account provisioning, cloud-based print services, WiFi device authentication to improve security …”
Good said the 3 mill funding maintains devices and ensures current and robust network, WiFi and system technologies.
“There’s a constant need to make sure everything is up to date and, if that’s not happening, there will be issues,” he said.
So far, Good said the loss of the 3 mill has resulted in postponing a suite of network upgrades and stopping the T-Mobile student hotspot program, which negatively impacts families who don’t have reliable access to the internet.
Special election resolution
Art Melendres, a lawyer LLS consults with for bonds, said the resolution they put forth would have the special election be through an all-mail ballot, which the county clerk would mail out to every registered voter in the district.
“We could have it as early as March, but the date picked, in consultation with the superintendent, is Aug. 13,” said Melendres. “It’s several months off because (the superintendent) wants more time to make sure they’ve made a maximum effort in explaining to citizens what the 3 mill does.”
Melendres said conveying the true impact of the 3 mill levy on the ballot can be tricky because they have to adhere to very specific language and wording under New Mexico statute.
“So, my recommendation is we follow the statute exactly and we take the burden upon ourselves to say, ‘When you see technology improvements, this is what we mean’,” said Melendres.
In addition to doing more advertising and school visits, the district will likely send out some sort of flier to registered voters prior to the ballot being sent out to better explain how crucial the 3 mill is to the district’s students and staff.
“This is an extremely important thing that affects the kids in the classroom,” said former LLS school board president Tina Garcia at the meeting. “We’ve become a district that totally relies on technology and it’s something we can’t go without—it just isn’t.”
Traczyk said LLS will be paying for the mail-in ballot. The cost has not yet been determined, but Garcia said it’s cheaper than conducting an in-person election.
The vote to approve the special election passed on a 4-1 vote with former board member Eloy Giron being the only one to vote no because he felt it was something the new board should address.
Felina Martinez was born and raised in Valencia County. She graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2021. During her time at UNM, she studied interdisciplinary film, digital media and journalism. She covers the village of Los Lunas, Los Lunas Schools, the School of Dreams Academy and the town of Peralta.
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April 25, 2024
