West Side school district still up in the air

TONIGHT, THE FIGHT FOR A NEW SCHOOL DISTRICT ON ALBUQUERQUE'S WESTSIDE CONTINUES. CRITICS OF...  More »

TONIGHT, THE FIGHT FOR A NEW SCHOOL DISTRICT ON ALBUQUERQUE'S WESTSIDE CONTINUES. CRITICS OF THE PROPOSAL SAY SPLITTING OFF FROM A-P-S WOULD BE A FINANCIAL DISASTER. BUT NOW, SUPPORTERS SAY THEY HAVE PROOF IT WILL WORK. JEFF MAHER IS LIVE AT WEST MESA HIGH SCHOOL NEAR COORS AND FORTUNA TO EXPLAIN. JEFF. CRITICS OF THE PROPOSAL HAVE SAID ALL ALONG THERE'S NOT ENOUGH OF A TAX BASE ON THE WESTSIDE TO SUPPORT A SEPARATE SCHOOL DISTRICT. BUT THOSE WHO ARE PUSHING FOR THE NEW DISTRICT SAY THERE ARE PLENTY OF TAX DOLLARS HERE ALREADY, AND PLENTY OF REASONS TO SPLIT FROM A-P-S. A-P-S SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER ROBERT LUCERO IS ONE OF MANY PUSHING FOR THE WESTSIDE SCHOOL DISTRICT. HE SAYS TAXPAYERS ON THE WESTSIDE ARE PAYING CLOSE TO FOUR-BILLION DOLLARS PER YEAR IN PROPERTY TAXES -- A LOT OF THAT MONEY WOULD HELP PAY FOR THE NEW DISTRICT. STATE SECRETARY OF EDUCATION DR. VERONICA GARCIA WILL MAKE THE FINAL DECISION -- BUT SHE TOLD SUPPORTERS OF THE PROPOSAL THAT SHE NEEDS MORE INFORMATION FIRST. SHE WANTS TO KNOW THE NAME OF THE NEW DISTRICT AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION -- FOR EXAMPLE, THE COST FOR PROJECTS THAT ARE ALREADY SLATED TO HAPPEN AT WESTSIDE SCHOOLS. A NEW DISTRICT WOULD GET THOSE BILLS. IF THOSE BILLS TRANSLATE TO MILLIONS OF DOLLARS -- IT COULD RAISE TAXES, WHICH WOULD LIKELY KILL THE PLAN. DR. GARCIA ALSO WANTS MORE SPECIFIC BOUNDARIES FOR THE PROPOSED DISTRICT THAN WHAT'S ALREADY BEEN OUTLINED. 'one of the concerns is, how would they serve as existing bonds, and then if they wanted to build new schools, how would they substantiate both, they would probably have to raise property taxes to do that, so it becomes a double whammy to the taxpayers on the westside' A-P-S SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER ROBERT ESCOVEL, WHO IS STRONGLY AGAINST THE PLAN SAYS HE HAS NOT SEEN ANY FINANCIAL DATA THAT SHOWS THE NEW DISTRICT COULD SUPPORT ITSELF. MANY HAVE MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT THE PROPOSAL. 'if it's going to help out children in the long run, and taxes are raised here and there, I think it would be a good cause''they would have to reorganize all of their administration, could be really costly from an operational standpoint' MEMBERS OF THE WESTSIDE COALITION SAY THEY SHOULD HAVE ALL OF THAT INFORMATION TO DR. GARCIA BY NEXT WEEK. DR. GARCIA THEN HAS 90 DAYS TO MAKE A DECISION ABOUT THE NEW DISTRICT. LIVE IN NORTHWEST ALBUQUERQUE. JEFF MAHER. EYEWITNESS  « Less