Albuquerque Public Schools is asking families and the community how to manage underused school buildings as enrollment falls, the district said, stressing that no closures or consolidations have been proposed.
The APS Board of Education approved a resolution to launch public meetings on the district’s long-term facility needs, and the first community conversation on the effort, known as right-sizing, was held Monday night at Cibola High School. Deputy Superintendent of Operations Antonio Gonzales told board members that no decisions had been made.
APS has lost roughly 20,000 students since 2018, when enrollment stood at about 84,000, mainly because of falling birth rates in Bernalillo County and families moving out of state. Nearly one in four APS schools now has fewer than 250 students, and about one in six operates at less than half its intended capacity. “As school populations decrease, it becomes harder to sustain the same programs, services, and staffing,” said Randy Mahlerwein, deputy superintendent for leadership and learning. APS also spends about $50,000 a day on utilities alone.
District officials cited converting underused buildings into early childhood centers, dual-language academies or specialized high schools as examples, not as recommendations for specific schools. Community meetings are scheduled at high schools across Albuquerque through January 2027, including a Nov. 2 session at the Berna Facio Professional Development Center for speakers of Spanish, Arabic, Dari, Kinyarwanda, Swahili and Vietnamese.
What's Next
The district will review community feedback over the winter and return to the board in early 2027 to discuss priorities and possible next steps. Any specific proposals would come later.
Why It Matters
Smaller enrollments make it harder for schools to keep counselors, librarians, nurses and art and music teachers, and to offer electives and extracurricular activities.
Editor’s note: Updated Nov. 1, 2026. This story was revised to cite the Albuquerque Public Schools announcement it is based on. Learn how Brant.One reports in our editorial standards.
