Rio Ranco Schools... money problems? (Santa Fe, Rio Rancho: house, school districts, tax)

[rybert]

KOB.com - RRPS*asks teachers to take*immediate leave

"Rio Rancho Public Schools asked teachers and school staff in the district with three or more years of experience to consider accepting a long term leave of absence without pay."

[rybert]

Pardon the spelling error.

Rio Rancho

[domino]

Aren't RRPS already overcrowded? How can they cut teachers in a district that is growing by leaps and bounds?

[rybert]

Exactly.

[lisdol]

From the article it looks like they are hoping support staff will be the ones to take the leave, but will allow teachers as well. What in the world are they going to do with the kids?

And really, the paperwork needs to be done, phones need to be answered, etc..., so if one of say, two, office support staff takes leave, the other one has to pick up the slack.

There has got to be some other way to trim some fat.

I know my kids' school (not RR) keeps the thermostat around 70 degrees and its downright balmy. If RR keeps it that high, and they might, maybe lowering it to 68 or even, gasp, 66, they could save some money. Its not too much to ask parents to have kids wear a sweatshirt over their shirt in the winter. I know my house is at 61 right now to save money.

[bradly]

Rio Rancho Public isnt the only one in the hole.. Espanola Valley Schools is also.. as of right now pretty big, but this is for trying to bail out the Los Carinos Charter School. So... thats where the Politics came in.. and of course that nut job Dr. Cockerham, the Super who is the highest paid superintendent in the state, $179,000, and i think 15th in the southwest. He finally got the boot, but got a raise?! how do you like that,..and this isnt a small district it has 14 schools, but it has some of the lowest scores in state tests.

[veggggies]

Originally Posted by lisdol

From the article it looks like they are hoping support staff will be the ones to take the leave, but will allow teachers as well. What in the world are they going to do with the kids?

And really, the paperwork needs to be done, phones need to be answered, etc..., so if one of say, two, office support staff takes leave, the other one has to pick up the slack.

There has got to be some other way to trim some fat.

I know my kids' school (not RR) keeps the thermostat around 70 degrees and its downright balmy. If RR keeps it that high, and they might, maybe lowering it to 68 or even, gasp, 66, they could save some money. Its not too much to ask parents to have kids wear a sweatshirt over their shirt in the winter. I know my house is at 61 right now to save money.

I don't keep my house that low, but would gladly dress my kids warmer to help save! I think the RRPS are in a horrid situation. We are looking into private schools, but realize most cannot afford it. I fear that Cleveland High School will not open next year. They are already SO overcrowded. If I hadn't been at the Jingle Bell Run today I would have stood out and supported our teachers today! I'm sorry, but my guess is that a very fraction of a percentage of teachers could afford to take 6 months off without pay. What a STUPID suggestion!

[bradly]

How funny RRPS is asking staff to take off several months when we have school districts like Espanola and Santa Fe who lack teachers and other admin,.. it makes me laugh.

What made me laugh was Espanola used to be the states sixth largest school in the early 90's with an enrollment of 1,789, they moved the ninth grade to the middle school getting rid of 490 students, over the years 15% of espanola high school lost it students to neighboring pojoaque high school, its enrollment last year was 902, they brought back the ninth graders with out any planning or knowing that they would need 13+ more teachers, the building is still the way it was in the early 90's and the admin made such a big deal over the lunch periods there was two for a couple weeks of school, now the school has 1,208 students with portables to hell... what i dont get is... there are 20+ classrooms sitting empty while admin brought in 10 portables that each have 2 class rooms.. anyways the point i'm gettin at is.. school districts dont think anymore, its sad to say but RRPS is making them sound stupid by asking teachers to do such a thing..

[berncohomes]

Well maybe if Rio Rancho and other cities stopped subsidizing corporate giants like Walmart then they would have more tax money to put into education and other IMPORTANT needs of the community.

[desert sun]

I feel sorry for Rio Rancho, this girl I know that goes to school at RRHS said that the school has asked the school security guard to fill in for some teachers and that some students are just walking out of class cause of all the mess that is going on.