RRPS board sends $7.4M in capital project requests to Legislature

RIO RANCHO — From new school intercoms to marching band fields, Rio Rancho Public Schools has a lot on its legislative wish list next year.

During a regular meeting Monday, the RRPS Board of Education approved a $7.4 million capital outlay project request for lawmakers to consider funding during the general session, which starts Jan. 20. Following the board’s unanimous approval, district officials uploaded the requests to the New Mexico Legislature capital outlay website.

“When we get those legislative supports for these kinds of projects, they get done far earlier than they would if we had to wait in the regular funding process,” RRPS Superintendent Sue Cleveland said during the meeting.

Patrick Martinez, executive director of facilities with RRPS, provided a presentation to board members before they voted to approve the requests.

AthleticsThe Rio Rancho High School softball press box is “in pretty bad shape” following its construction by coaches and parents nearly 30 years ago, when the school opened, Martinez and Cleveland said. District officials have worked with their athletic counterparts to come up with solutions, according to Martinez. The project price tag is $800,000.

“It’s not going to be an easy or inexpensive project, but we definitely think it’s needed,” Martinez said.

Lincoln Middle School is the only RRPS middle school that does not have a tennis court, he said, so the district is asking the state for $200,000 to help make them a reality.

Additionally, the Cleveland High School locker room is in need of expansion, Martinez said, and to make ends meet, school officials have outfitted a storage room with extra lockers. An expansion project, billed at $225,000, would take the locker room “to the next level,” Martinez said.

FacilitiesDistrict officials hope to utilize $400,000 to replace the Mountain View Middle School storefront outside the media center and cafeteria.

“The storefront is starting to rust, and there’s some structural integrity we want to take a look at and make sure we can take care of that,” Martinez said.

Cielo Azul Elementary needs a new parking lot. The full price of the project is “pretty hefty,” so district officials are asking for $80,000 to design the project before asking for additional funds to help construct it, Martinez said.

TransportationThree million dollars is needed to expand RRPS’s bus fleet to 20 vehicles, Martinez said.

“We’re still short, so these 20 buses will definitely help out,” he said.

An additional $60,000 is needed to design a parking lot for the buses, according to Martinez.

SecurityClassroom locks will cost $200,000 to replace, according to Martinez.

“We have a lot of those that are out of date, so we want to make sure those are the best that they can be,” he said.

Battery-operated locks that are also out of date will cost $250,000 to replace, Martinez said.

ITIntercom replacement is needed for Rio Rancho Middle School ($1 million), Eagle Ridge Middle School ($450,000), Lincoln Middle School ($400,000) and Vista Grande Elementary School ($350,000).

Martinez said since a lot of schools’ intercom systems are out of date, it’s hard to find parts for them. The requested funds will simply allow the school district to “bring (the system) up standard so we can maintain them better.”

Fine artsThe district’s two high schools, Cleveland and Rio Rancho, both need marching band field upgrades at $125,000 a piece, according to Martinez.

UFO Center upgradeSchool officials would like to install a $40,000 interactive display for the UFO Center, based at Martin Luther Ling Jr. Elementary School.

“You’ll see a lot of these displays at museums, and we think it’s a really good learning tool,” Mike Baker, RRPS’s chief financial officer, told board members.

The display would allow center patrons to quickly view information about a particular UFO case, including one involving a mass UFO sighting in Farmington in March 1950, according to Baker and a report from the Las Cruces Sun News.

Baker said RRPS’s decision to put the display forward as an official legislative request came after officials consulted with the center’s executive director, David Marler.