RR school board approves new substance abuse reporting policy

RIO RANCHO — Rio Rancho Public School employees must immediately report student abuse or suspected abuse of substances if it occurs during school hours or during a school sponsored event, according to a policy approved by the school board Sept. 8.

The policy — which was passed following suggested revisions from board members — also requires employees to report the abuse or suspected conduct no more than three days after learning of it if the alleged or suspected abuse occurred outside of the school day, outside of a school-sponsored event or “in other instances.”

During the meeting, RRPS Superintendent Sue Cleveland touched on the importance of the policy for the school district.

“All staff has a legal, moral and ethical responsibility to report student drug abuse or — if it’s strongly suspected — to turn that over to school administration, and they will take it from there and investigate it thoroughly,” Cleveland said. “We really need to help students who have those kinds of issues, and looking the other way is not a kind or smart thing to do.”

She added the policy pertains to all school district employees, not just teachers.

The policy revisions came following district administrators’ call to refine definitions of prohibited substances and the timeline for school employees to report alleged substance abuse. The policy, first introduced when the school district was founded in 1994, had been revised in 2002, 2018 and 2023, according to the RRPS website.

“As a best practice, policies should be reviewed regularly and adjusted to meet the needs of the district — whether that be based on new laws, changes or trends throughout neighboring districts,” Shelley Havill, executive director of student services, wrote in an email following the meeting. “In reviewing an already very solid policy, the updates are ... more intended to refine than to change thoroughly (and) limit any subjectivity in the policy.”

RRPS Board of Education President Amanda Galbraith said following the meeting that it’s important for the school district to meet legal requirements.

“(Student) safety matters,” Galbraith said. “If those things are happening on our campus and we’re not reporting them, then that’s pretty shameful on our district.”

She added that substance abuse by one student impacts the safety of all students.

“So, it is really important that we passed that policy,” Galbraith said.

The latest revisions struck the terms “alcohol” and “drugs” and replaced it with “prohibited legal substances, illicit drugs and mood-altering substances.”

“Prohibited legal substances” means “tobacco products, tobacco electronic devices, e-cigarettes, nicotine liquid containers and alcoholic beverages,” all of which are prohibited in school programs by state law, the revised policy states.

“Illicit drugs” means “prescription and over-the-counter medications used for nonmedical purposes, or not used as medically prescribed,” according to the policy.

Employees who see or suspect student use of any of the described substances are required to report them to the students’ principal or assistant principal, the policy states. If either administrator is unavailable, security should be notified, said the policy.