RRPS board approves $10K donation, class waivers, library resources

RIO RANCHO — The Rio Rancho Public Schools Board of Education approved class size waivers, additional library resources and a $10,000 donation to support school counselors and college and career readiness initiatives during a regular meeting Nov. 3.

The five-member board — with Board Secretary Jessica Tyler absent — approved the slew of items before awarding a contract to an Albuquerque-based architectural firm to support upgrades to aging Rio Rancho High School.

Class size waiversRenee Saucedo, secondary school improvement officer for RRPS, told the board a number of schools have classrooms that are over the student limit.

Saucedo recommended the board approve class size waivers to submit to the New Mexico Public Education Department for approval.

According to the agency, class size waivers are typically needed when staffing limitations, enrollment fluctuations or scheduling constraints make it difficult to maintain class size limits.

Lincoln and Mountain View middle schools are in need of one or two waivers because a few classes are over the 27-student limit, Saucedo said. But the teachers who teach those classes are under a daily maximum of 135 students, so the district is not sure whether PED will accept the waiver, said Saucedo. If the waiver is not accepted, the district will have to move students to other classes.

Cleveland and Rio Rancho high schools each have two teachers teaching 150 students in a full day, with 30 students per class.

Cleveland is well below 150 students, Saucedo said, but one teacher has 69 students per day and a few classes containing more than 30 students.

Rio Rancho has one of the teachers that is well below the total day limit but one class with over 30 students, Saucedo said.

Another Rio Rancho teacher has 160 students per day but none over the classroom maximum, according to Saucedo.

“So all of these teachers fit into the formula one way or another, but yet on the other side, there’s a way that they’re out,” Saucedo said.

Joe Harris Elementary School has four kindergarten classes with more than 20 students, but with the addition of another teacher and educational assistant, the school will no longer need a waiver, Saucedo said.

RRPS Superintendent Dr. Sue Cleveland told the board following the presentation that five years ago, every class in Rio Rancho was 10% over the student limit.

“So we have come a long way and really have just a few exceptions,” she said. “We’ll find a way to make those work.”

Cleveland added she hoped PED approved the waivers.

General obligation bondA bond from the state will allow $274,974 to be spent on library resources, Saucedo told the board. The district has three years to spend the funds.

“Why would we not take that (money)?” Cleveland asked with a laugh.

She noted those funds should not be confused with the $80 million voter-approved bond, which passed overwhelmingly the next day.

“I hope when there is a statewide library bond, the community will continue to support it, because it is a significant amount of money for our district,” Cleveland said.

Schumann Foundation

donationMichelle Havill, RRPS’s executive director of student services, said the foundation decided to award the district $10,000 to support Level All platform training for counselors and other staff. The platform is designed, in part, to help them search for colleges and scholarship opportunities.

The foundation’s donation will also be used to support professional development of school counselors, Havill said.

The foundation is named after the late Douglas Schumann, a former naval officer, school counselor and Rio Rancho resident.