Enrollment in Albuquerque Public Schools has been declining annually for several years. But an annual loss of about 2,000 students due to various circumstances more than doubled during the pandemic, creating a $17.5 million budget shortfall that must be addressed.

APS Superintendent Scott Elder said past drops in enrollment could be handled by the natural attrition in staff, but that changed during the pandemic. “Due to the pandemic we’ve lost over 5,500 students and that’s caused this significant shortfall,” Elder told KRQE.

The APS, Elder said, is being forced to cut hundreds of positions. “We have to have compliance,” Elder said. “You have a certain number of students, and you have to have a certain number of teachers for those students.”

A hiring freeze is already in place as APS shifts current employees around as needed to minimize layoffs. Ellen Bernstein, the Teachers Union president, told KRQE she’s working to minimize the moves and get educators in their new placements by May. Elder is also hopeful of bringing back staff at that time.

A number of factors have contributed to the massive drop in enrollment, including a growing number of people leaving New Mexico and students transferring to private or charter schools.