Rio Rancho board approves boundary change to ease overcrowding at Mountain View Middle School

The Rio Rancho Public Schools Board of Education voted 5-0 April 14 to adopt a boundary change intended to relieve overcrowding at Mountain View Middle School by moving portions of several neighborhoods to Rio Rancho Middle School and to allow current seventh graders to remain at their existing school for eighth grade.

The board approved “Option 2,” a district proposal that combines several neighborhood adjustments. The plan would move roughly 145 students from Mountain View’s attendance area; district presenters said that change would lower Mountain View’s enrollment from about 934 students to approximately 789, putting it slightly below its stated capacity of about 800. Board member Jessica Tyler moved the motion; Gary Tripp seconded. A roll‑call vote recorded unanimous approval: Vice President Morgan (yes), Secretary Jessica Tyler (yes), Board member Gary Tripp (yes), Board member Miller (yes), President Amanda Galbraith (yes).

Why it matters: Mountain View has been more than 100 students over capacity and the district said new housing development in the area is likely to increase enrollment further. The board said the limited, targeted boundary change is intended to provide near‑term relief ahead of a broader district‑wide boundary review planned for next year.

District staff presented two options. Option 1 would have moved 79 students (including 33 from Cleveland Heights, 11 from Los Rios and 35 from River’s Edge 1), reducing Mountain View’s enrollment to roughly 855. Option 2 adds further areas — River’s Edge 2 and portions across State Road 528 near Honduras Boulevard and Iris Road — increasing the total moved students to about 145 and reducing Mountain View to an estimated 789 students.

Wyndham Gimsley, executive director of communications, told the board the current effort is a two‑phase process: ‘‘this is most likely gonna be a 2 phase process where the first phase is considering two middle schools, namely Mountain View Middle School and Rio Rancho Middle School.’’ Kim Vesely, the district consultant who led the technical analysis, said the district used capacity, transportation routing, existing development plans and demographic factors to craft the scenarios. Vesely told the board the district held an open house attended by about a dozen parents and said the district had sent email notices to roughly 200 contacts in the affected areas and received about two dozen online responses.

Parents’ main concerns, staff said, were transfers and grandfathering. The adopted motion included a grandfathering provision for current seventh graders who would be in eighth grade next year, allowing those students to remain at their current school; the board did not expand grandfathering beyond that category. Staff reminded parents that district transportation is not provided for students who transfer by request; parents who keep a child at their prior school by transfer must provide transportation unless a district policy grants priority in limited circumstances.

Presenters also reported on transfers that affect enrollment counts: district data showed students both transferring out of Mountain View and transferring in from other Rio Rancho or out‑of‑district locations; staff warned that transfer patterns can affect school totals and will be tracked as part of implementation.

After the vote, board members discussed next steps: district transportation staff will rework bus routing and facilities will update maps and online materials. Board members and staff also agreed to offer visiting opportunities for incoming students before the end of the school year so families and children can see the receiving campus and ease the transition.

Implementation timeline and next steps: board approval authorizes the district to finalize maps, update transportation routing and publish the new attendance areas for the 2025–26 school year. Staff said they will add any required follow‑up conditions, work with principals at both campuses on program impacts, and incorporate the changes so they do not require moving students again in the near term. The broader district‑wide boundary study will take place next year.

— Ending — The board’s action was presented as an immediate relief measure, not the final district approach; staff emphasized a larger, district‑wide boundary review is planned for the 2025–26 cycle.