RRPS to receive gift of new school buses

RIO RANCHO — The Rio Rancho Public Schools Board met on Sept. 16 and unanimously voted to receive three much-needed handicap school buses from Albuquerque Public Schools. The measure, which passed 5-0, was an end cap to a months-long project spearheaded by RRPS Nick Brook, executive director of student transportation.

Brook contacted the Public Education Department (PED) in July, and an agreement was reached with APS to transfer the buses to Rio Rancho. The RRPS Transportation Department will then need to fit them to district standards before they are put into use.

“APS needs to go through a specific process for inventory purposes to complete the transfer,” Brook told the Observer in an email. “Once we receive possession of the buses, we will put them through an inspection process and install cameras and all other necessary equipment.”

Brook said the department is certainly willing to be patient considering both the generosity of APS and the difficulty in finding this specific type of bus.

“These are wheelchair buses, and they are even more difficult to come by than traditional regular yellow buses,” Brook told the school board. “It’s really hard because with wheelchair buses, children completely depend upon having that lift and having the appropriate equipment.”

The transfer of the three buses is permanent, according to Brook, and comes at a time of rapid expansion for Rio Rancho.

“These are just desperately needed, and we are appreciative that we have gotten them,” said school board president Amanda Galbraith. “We appreciate (Brook’s) initiative on this, and we thank APS for moving these buses.”

Brook said he looked at the increasing number of Individual Education Plans (IEPs) for students requiring transportation and began reaching out to find more buses for their specific needs.

“The number of IEPs relating to transportation requests has gone up,” Brook said. “The average number of reported students with special needs increased by almost 250 from 2022-2023 to 2023-2024.”

According to Brook, the buses are set to arrive in RRPS possession within the next month.

This isn’t the first time RRPS has asked for assistance from other districts in addressing bus shortages. At the meeting, Superintendent Cleveland noted that the end of the previous contract between RRPS and the company managing the buses for the district ended abruptly and left district staff scrambling. One solution was to purchase buses from across state lines. Another was to ask other New Mexico school districts for help.

Despite help from the Public Education Department, at that time, the plan was of limited effectiveness.

The success of the collaboration between Brooks and APS ignited hope of more help to come.

“Can we just start soliciting all districts around and start picking up buses?” asked Cleveland. "That’s what I want."

“A lot of them are willing to do that,” responded Brook. “Yeah, I think we could do that.”