The Las Cruces Public Schools board passed the fiscal year 2025-2026 operating budget Tuesday night, as well as approving a boundary correction between the LCPS and Gadsden Independent School Districts.
The proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget unanimously approved by the Las Cruces School Board totals $602 million, a 3% increase over Fiscal Year 2025. It includes over $223 million for instruction, over $38 million for support services for students, and over $10 million for safety projects that include weapons detection systems, districtwide cameras, security guards, and playground maintenance. The budget timeline started with a town hall survey last November 6th, with the survey results presented on March 26th. The town hall proposed budget was presented on May 7th, with the final budget approved by the board Tuesday night. Robert Wofford, District 3 school board secretary, praised the team that put together the presentation and the budget.
“The process has changed and changed dramatically for the better over the years with the budget,” Wofford said. “So I’d like to commend you all and the whole finance department. You guys are doing a fabulous job. And I know it’s a living document—you’ve reminded us of that—so that nothing here is etched into marble, so we will be able to change it. So thank you.”
Another topic discussed was the Board of Education Boundary Correction between LCPS and the Gadsden Independent School District. From 2000-2006 the area between the two districts and the Mesquite Community was relatively flat, with a small loop existing over I-10. But a significant change occurred between 2007 and 2009, as it expanded its southeastern corner into the Alamogordo Public School District. A minor adjustment between LCPS and GISD occurred in 2007, which removed the loop but didn’t impact residents of either school districts.
Several additional changes were made through 2024. Colleen Martinez, president of Visions and Planning, described to the school board her proposal to fix the boundary issues between the two school districts.
“What this does specifically is it aligns where property taxes are being paid for by constituents, ensuring that those constituents have an accurate voice, based on their school board elections as well,” Martinez told the board. “These people are already currently paying taxes in those areas, to Las Cruces or vice-versa to Gadsden, so we’ve made sure to align the new boundary with that in mind.”
Martinez explained that the change would necessitate the realignment of the Board of Education Voting Districts 3 and 4 along the southern edge, with District 3 gaining 92 residents; while District 4 would not experience any increase in its population. In necessitating the correction for the GISD Board of Education District 3 along the northern edge, it would add 37 residents to its population count.
In the end, the board approved the proposed boundary correction. The next step is to gain the approval from the Gadsden Independent School District; then a creation of a Memorandum of Understanding between LCPS and GISD for the corrected boundary area; followed by a preparation of corrected voting district maps and attendance zones; and finally the submission of the corrected boundary, signed MOU, and voting district shape files to the Doña Ana County Clerk’s Office and Secretary of State Office.
