K-12 Education

Future Construction Funding Cloudy as New Schools Approach Completion

As the three new schools profiled in this section near their opening bells, funding for more schools remains mixed in light of current economic woes.

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The three projects profiled in this year’s K through 12 education section will help fill the immediate needs in southwest Albuquerque, Casa Grande and North Las Vegas, but they are in no way enough to stave off the army of new students arriving every year.

And it doesn’t look like that’s going to change anytime soon. With the current economic slowdown hitting the U.S., state budgets are tighter than ever. Both Arizona and Nevada have been hit with belt-tightening measures which put future projects in limbo.

It’s a perennial issue in the Southwest: education and infrastructure are constantly playing catch-up due to the region’s population growth. Because of this, putting a moratorium on new school development delays the construction of new schools that were needed yesterday, rather than pulling back on future needs.

One bright spot is in Albuquerque. The Facilities Design + Construction division of Albuquerque Public Schools nearly doubled school expenditures in the past year. APS says it is currently managing 360 projects in design or construction, including 20 projects totaling $200 million to be built to at least LEED-silver accreditation.

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