Rio Rancho Public School Board members discussed potential resolutions for the New Mexico School Boards Association (NMSBA) legislative platform and asked staff to prepare drafts for board review. Lauren Hatch, chief legal counsel, said the NMSBA asked boards not to resubmit items already on its platform and set a target date to receive new resolutions by the board’s Sept. 8 meeting.

Staff recommended retaining several priorities from last year — support for career technical education, teacher licensure advancement, additional special‑education funding, capital improvement funding and cybersecurity — and suggested additions including a comprehensive review of the state funding formula, a focused resolution on the purchase of school buses, and adequate liability insurance coverage. Board members proposed more specific items: Gary Tripp raised instructional materials funding and suggested per‑pupil or otherwise indexed increases; another board member urged tying CTE funding to student enrollment; and board members discussed concerns about proposed liability‑insurance deductibles, which staff said could range up to $500,000 and as high as $2,000,000 per district in some scenarios.

Hatch said staff will draft the resolutions and present them at the next meeting; the board did not take formal action tonight. Superintendent Cleveland noted boards may include specific numeric requests (for example, a particular base salary figure) if they wish and that staff can incorporate specificity into proposed resolutions.