Our budget situation is much improved over last year, but we are still not out of the woods. What the legislature does to cope with the state’s budget shortfall (already at about $400 million just three months into the fiscal year) will be crucial. A special legislative session is planned for October, and the regular session will be held in January and February; cuts to the current year budget for schools throughout New Mexico could be considered at either or both sessions.

Current proposals of potential cuts to education run from zero to as much as 5%. To put it in perspective, a 3% cut would amount to a hit to our budget of about $3.5 million. This would be a very difficult situation not just for us, but for school districts statewide. We hope you will monitor the budget talk in Santa Fe and contact your legislator and let him/her know your opinions about cuts to education and about what cuts could mean to your child’s classroom.

With tight budgets, the district had to plan and staff very conservatively.  The initial budget and staffing levels assumed zero growth over the previous school year – a prudent approach given the potential for mid-year budget cuts coming from Santa Fe.  We did not want to be in the position of hiring teachers and then having to cut them if the district did not grow or if the legislature cuts the budget.   The district has had to move very carefully in balancing the need to get additional help to schools with the possibility we might take a big hit to the budget later in the year. 

As it turned out we did grow some, especially at Cielo Azul, Maggie Cordova, and the new Rio Rancho Middle School; some other schools saw more modest growth.  This should result in some additional funding which we have put into hiring teachers so we can bring down class sizes at those big schools. 

Since the initial budget and staffing allocations, the following adjustments have been made:

• June and July: four additional elementary and secondary FTE’s were added to meet needs at specific schools (FTE stands for “full-time equivalent” and is used in calculating staffing levels at schools....for example, an “FTE” can be two part-time teachers)
• August:  16 new teacher FTE’s (10 elementary and 6 secondary) and two additional elementary Educational Assistants (EA’s) were authorized following meetings with principals August 24 and 25 (within 10 days of the start of school)
• We are now in the process of authorizing an additional 7 elementary special education EA’s, two additional elementary special ed teachers, and two additional secondary teachers.
• Total additions to staff:  24 teacher FTE’s, 9 EA FTE’s.

With the addition of additional staff, we are close to having most class sizes in line with state class size limits.  Most of these teachers are already hired and in place.

The current economic situation accompanied by the softening of the real estate and job markets, foreclosures, etc. made it difficult to predict whether the district would grow at all, or if it did by how much.

The realignment of grade levels, closing of the Mid-High, opening of Rio Rancho Middle School and Cleveland High, and the resulting boundary changes resulted in large-scale movement of teachers and students and also supplies, materials, textbooks, etc. During the summer, 273 staff members changed duty locations; an additional 72 staff classified as Rio Rancho Mid-High staff in 2008-09 became Rio Rancho Middle School staff this year.

As of the 20th day, RRPS’s enrollment had grown by approximately 449 students over the previous year’s 20th day. This a growth rate of about 2½%, comparable to last year’s growth rate.

With the closing of the Mid-High, the move of 8th graders to middle schools and 9th graders to high schools, and the opening of the new high school, massive numbers of textbooks had to be moved from one school to another.  Approximately 46,000 textbooks already in RRPS inventory were moved among schools in the months of June and July.  When the dust settled there were shortages in some classrooms and some subject areas due to growth and the massive number of books transferred.  The district ordered an additional approximately 43,500 new books; most are already in classrooms and the remainder are being processed as quickly as possible for issuance to students.

By the end of September – but it will be called PowerSchool instead of ParentConnect.  The district has been in the process of changing over to PowerSchool, a new software platform for student records.  The district had to make the change at this time because the vendor for its old system no longer supports the old software.  The transition to PowerSchool is actually going fairly well, though a big software conversion is always a challenge, especially for those who have to learn and use a new system and have put long hours into the changeover.

The new secondary school gradebook system that will replace the old ParentConnect system is being tested to make sure it is working properly and reporting accurate data. For a full description of the new program and the details of how we're deploying it, click here.

For the record, the building of Cleveland High is not now and has never been “behind schedule”. Cleveland was funded in two phases. The facilities still being completed (the Concert Hall and phys ed/athletic fields) are Phase II facilities that were not even funded until well after construction of the rest of the school started. The completion dates for the Phase II facilities, therefore, were always anticipated to be later than those for the rest of the school. Latest estimates are that we may have the sports stadium (football and track) online October 9th, and the Concert Hall and attached fine arts facilities before the end of October. The remaining sports fields are being prepared – several are already sodded -- will come on line throughout the rest of the year as the grass takes root. We are building a facility that will serve this community for many years to come, and we want to make sure we take the time to do it right.

This “phased” opening of schools is not unusual. APS is phasing in both its large high schools. Both Maggie Cordova and Cielo Azul Elementary opened in phases. And way back when, RRHS was phased in too: its performing arts center was not ready when school opened, and it didn’t have a football field until two years after the school opened.

Cleveland High is also not over budget. The final design and construction cost of about $125.4 million is in line with other large high schools being built around the state and country. The cost was split just about 50-50 between the state of NM and local bond funds, which is a good deal for Rio Rancho taxpayers (we essentially got a new high school for half price!). The budget was adjusted a couple of times to account for increases in construction costs, but that is not unusual for a large project.

We’ve heard some rumblings about the lack of lockers at Cleveland. The building was built with 300 lockers, which may not seem like very many. But the principal advises us that so far students have made only about 150 requests for lockers. This squares with our experience at Rio Rancho High and our research of other high schools around the country: a large number of high school kids just don’t want or use lockers.

We hope if you have not done so that you will see the new campus. It is nice, new, functional, and energy and environment-friendly, but not lavish. By the way, there is not a swimming pool under the gym floor (don’t we wish!) . . . . no lighted shower floors . . . no escalators (that one seems to persist!) . . . and the little “C”s and lightning bolt logos on some of the furniture didn’t cost any extra . . .

Part of the reason Cleveland was built the way it is was to provide students with equivalent facilities and opportunities to those at Rio Rancho High, which set a very high standard as a quality school facility.  That said, RRHS is 12 years old now and there are some things that need to be done.  Some of what has happened or is in the works:

• The $260,000 HP grant for technology and professional development is being directed entirely to Rio Rancho High to help improve the technology infrastructure at the school
• A large share of a generous $500,000 appropriation from Sandoval County is being directed to Rio Rancho High School to repair the baseball field and the well-worn track facility (the remainder – about $120,000 -- will equip all of our school buses with new cameras)
• Construction of a “black box” theatre/drama classroom for RRHS should begin before the end of the year
• We will be looking to direct considerable funds towards improvements at RRHS from the district’s next bond issue (still a couple of years away).

Capital funds, such as those used for school construction, specifically cannot be used for operational expenses such as hiring and paying teachers. The appropriation from Sandoval County is specifically for infrastructure improvements and cannot be used for salaries.

Starting up the district-run transportation operation has been an experience!  The transportation staff has been working days, nights, and weekends to get issues resolved as quickly as possible and the majority of problems with late buses and overloads have been resolved, but there are still problems with some routes.   Most of these iare related to traffic getting into and out of Cleveland High – we are working with the city on traffic control issues there – with athletic practices being held off site (those should go away as the fields are completed), and with delays due to road construction in various parts of town. 

There were also difficulties with people being able to contact the transportation department in the first couple of weeks of school due to a very high volume of phone calls.  The department has now changed the way its phone system processes calls and this has largely been rectified except for scattered peak calling periods.  The department is developing a “queue” system for calls which will play a message and put a caller on hold until a staff member can pick up the call.  The transportation department thanks staff and parents for their patience during the startup.

In the next few weeks drivers around Rio Rancho will start seeing the district’s four new activities buses. These buses were purchased with capital dollars (i.e. money that cannot be used to hire teachers or pay salaries). They are designed to accommodate students on long road trips and therefore contain some amenities regular school buses don’t have, such as more comfortable seating, storage capacity for luggage and athletics and band equipment, a P.A. system, and small TV screens to play DVD’s.

The district anticipates in the long term that the buses will more than pay for themselves in savings on rental and charter fees. In addition to being used for athletics and fine arts trips, the buses will be available for school field trips and other activities, and also for charter when they are not needed by our students. The buses will be rolling billboards for Rio Rancho’s two high schools and we hope will help to build pride in our city and our schools.

For the past couple of years, concession revenues have been split 50-50 between booster clubs and the school district (which owns and maintains the concession stands, pays the utilities, etc.).  The district has put any funds netted over expenses from its share of the proceeds back into athletic programs.  This year, the money has been earmarked to pay for substitutes for coaches when they need to be out of the classroom to travel with their teams and conduct other business directly supporting the athletic program.  The funds are NOT being used to pay for substitute teachers in general.  RRPS remains committed to providing extracurricular opportunities for students, but with budgets becoming ever-tighter, it is becoming more difficult to maintain our activities and athletic programs.  Using concession revenue to support our coaches is one way we can help keep our athletic programs as intact as possible.    

Our booster clubs are terrific and do a great job supporting our sports and fine arts programs.  We appreciate their efforts and will continue to work with them to provide high-quality programs for our kids.

The student activity fee of $30 helps to cover costs for school clubs, student government activities and events, academic competitions, and to some degree athletic and fine arts programs.  In exchange for paying the fee, students receive free admission to most athletic events and to school concerts, plays, and other such events.

Why the fee?  Up until two or three years ago, high schools were able to pay the cost of providing such activities through revenues generated from the sale of sodas and other products from vending machines.  However, in 2006 changes to federal and state laws severely restricted the sale of food and beverages not meeting strict guidelines for nutritional value.  Schools can no longer sell sodas and many other food and beverage items through vending machines during the school day.  With this change, sales plummeted and so – seven or eightfold – did the funding schools received through vending machine sales. 

This left schools with the choice of either eliminating most student activities or raising the funds to pay for them through other channels.  Student activities are a very important part of the educational process – students who are involved in school activities are more likely to do well in school and less likely to drop out.  Therefore, as an alternative to eliminating many extracurricular activities, the district decided to ask parents and students to pay a modest annual fee to support student activities. 

The cost of providing core educational classes continues, as always, to be funded by school district operational funds.

Not true. As principal Richard VonAncken puts it, “The Academy concept is alive and well at RRHS.” Students will still choose an academy based on their student interests and explore “career pathways” – a series of core courses and electives, organized by academy, that prepares students to succeed in college and the workplace in their chosen area of interest. Rio Rancho’s two comprehensive high schools will continue to require 28 credits for graduation (the state requires 24) which provides additional elective opportunities for students both within and outside their chosen academy and career pathway.

The confusion seems to be arising from an administrative reorganization that is being undertaken to better focus the school’s efforts on improving student achievement in the core classroom subjects. Our student’s test data and other achievement data was telling us that student achievement, especially in math, was not improving quickly enough with the way we were doing business.

As a result, last year Rio Rancho High changed from the four-period “block” schedule it had been following to a seven-period classroom day. With the block schedule, students completed an entire year’s worth of class work in a semester, and therefore could go a couple of semesters without taking a math course. The evidence suggested that students were not getting the continuity of instruction they needed to retain the material. With the seven-period day, students take math every day all year. We will be watching data over the next couple of years to see if the change improves test scores and student retention rates in college.

The administrative change -- transition might be a better description – actually got underway last year with the assignment of academy assistant principals to oversee not only their academies but also an core instructional area such as English, math, or science. Up until this year, each academy also had an “academy head” who essentially focused as a curriculum specialist and instructional coach for teachers. The academy head positions are being eliminated in favor of “instructional leader” positions for each of the four core subject areas. The instructional leaders will do many of the same things academy heads did, but more focused on those core subjects that all students are required to know.

The other reason a reorganization is necessary is that federal and state law requires us to pursue it. For the past several years, like almost all large high schools in the state, Rio Rancho High has failed to “make AYP” – that is, to meet state targets for the percentage of students demonstrating proficiency in reading and math for all student groups, including students with disabilities and English-language learners. The federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the state’s school accountability system require a school that has not made AYP for five years or more to undergo a reorganization aimed at improving student performance. Although Rio Rancho students stack up favorably with most other students in the state, the federal and state laws are all or nothing – even if a school misses AYP by just a few students, the same rules apply. Those rules So, although we would note that we feel the administrative realignment is the right thing to do to help all students achieve, we also have a legal obligation at this point to make substantive changes.

Once again, we would note that students will still be part of an academy and will be able to pursue a sequence of courses within their chosen academy supporting their career interests.

In a word, yes. This question arose because in its first year of operation, Cleveland High – like all new high schools – will not yet be accredited, which might disqualify students from some scholarships. The lack of accreditation is one of the big reasons Cleveland – again like most new high schools – will open without a senior class. During the first year of operation, the school completes the requirements for accreditation. By the next year, when the school’s juniors become seniors, the school is fully accredited and seniors can qualify for scholarships.

We confidently expect that by the 2010-11 school year – the first year Cleveland will have a senior class – the school will be fully accredited by both the state and by NCA-CASI (the North Central Association, which accredits the Rio Rancho district and all of its schools).

Some of the funding from the stimulus will flow to school districts through the state funding formula. This will help Rio Rancho because it helps to limit cuts in per-pupil funding that would otherwise be necessary because of the state’s financial situation.

In terms of direct aid to Rio Rancho RRPS will get some money, but not as much as one might think given the district’s size. Estimates are Rio Rancho will receive about $3.2 million in direct funds over a two-year period. Approximately $580,000 would come through federal Title I and the remainder through IDEA (funding for students with disabilities). In terms of dollars received per pupil, Rio Rancho ranks 89th of the 89 New Mexico school districts in the amount of direct aid coming through the Federal Stimulus to school districts. We estimate that Rio Rancho will receive about $206 dollars per student; the state average is estimated at $526 per student.

The reason Rio Rancho receives so little money relative to the district’s size is that the funds flow through federal channels benefiting low-income students. Approximately 37% of Rio Rancho’s students qualify for free and reduced lunch benefits, the most commonly reported measure for reporting data on economically-disadvantaged students. This would make RRPS a high-poverty district by most standards around the country, but in New Mexico poverty levels are so high throughout the state that Rio Rancho ranks 87th of the 89 school districts in terms of federal Title I funding. This year (pre-stimulus), Rio Rancho received about $55 per student in Title I funds. Albuquerque – in the same metropolitan area and thus with similar fixed costs – received $269 per student. Gallup received $668 per student.

Since much of the stimulus funding flows through the same criteria used to allocate federal Title funding, RRPS receives a low percentage of stimulus money compared to most other districts. Certainly, districts with large numbers of low-income children need every dollar they can get to meet the many needs of this student population. We merely are explaining why RRPS’s share of the pot is so low compared to other districts.

There are still questions about what federal stimulus funding is available and how it can be used.  It is still possible the legislature will hold a special session sometime later this year to make adjustments to funding for next year.