The following is the first installment in a series of interviews with Rio Rancho Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Sue Cleveland and the district’s spokesperson, Kim Vesely. The series is aimed at shedding light on some of the issues that face the district. This week, we’ll examine the history of the district.

The Observer: Rio Rancho is a new city, incorporated in 1981. Can you give us a little background on the Rio Rancho school system, and how it came about?

RRPS: The area that is now the City of Rio Rancho was originally divided between two school districts. Students living south of Northern Boulevard were in the Albuquerque Public Schools. Students living north of Northern were in Jemez Valley Schools. By 1994, Albuquerque had five schools in Rio Rancho: Martin Luther King Jr., Puesta del Sol, Stapleton (in modular buildings), Rio Rancho Elementary and Lincoln Mid­dle School. All were overcrowded; Lincoln, built to house fewer than 800 students, had an enrollment close to 1,600. During this period, high school students attended Cibola, which was also overcrowded.

Many local citizens did not feel this patchwork educational system met the needs of children in Rio Rancho, educationally or in terms of the districts’ ability to provide adequate facilities. A referendum on secession from APS failed in 1986, but in the early ’90s, as Rio Rancho continued to grow, momentum built for the establishment of a new district.

In 1992, a study commissioned by local businesses and PTAs concluded that Rio Rancho could support an independent school district and should take steps to establish one. In the early part of 1993, the Albuquerque and Jemez Valley school boards signed resolutions endorsing Rio Rancho’s move to become an independent district. The New Mexico Board of Education — at the time the governing authority for public schools in New Mexico — voted in July 1993 to create an independent Rio Rancho district.

During the next year a school board was elected, a superintendent and staff hired, and all of the planning and transition work was completed. Rio Rancho Public Schools began operations as an independent district in July 1994.

The Observer: So when did Dr. Cleveland come on board and when was she named superintendent?

RRPS: Dr. Cleveland was named Superintendent of Schools in December 1993, following a national search. Prior to her current position, Cleveland was Superintendent of Schools in Cherokee County, S.C., and held teaching and administrative positions with the Deer Park Independent School District (Houston metro area). She is a Sandia High School graduate and her initial teaching experience was in the Las Cruces Public Schools. She holds a B.A. from the University of New Mexico, an M.A. from New Mexico State University, and a doctorate from the University of Houston.

The Observer: If the district was originally a kindergarten through eighth-grade system, what prompted the building of Rio Rancho High School before it was scheduled in the original plan?

RRPS: Rio Rancho Public Schools was created as a K-8 system because no high school existed in Rio Rancho at the time the district was founded (July 1994). Therefore, high school students living south of Northern continued to be part of the Albuquerque Public Schools and attended Cibola High School. Students living north of Northern continued to be part of the Jemez Valley district, though most attended classes at Del Norte High School in Albuquerque, the only APS high school that had room for them at the time. Small numbers of students were scattered through nine additional metro area schools.

When RRPS was created, the state Board of Education felt it would be 10 years before the district would be in a position to build a high school. This belief was related in part to the fact that Rio Rancho’s elementary and middle schools were overcrowded, and the district, with its limited tax base, would need to focus on easing overcrowding at the K-8 grade levels before taking on the considerable financial burden of opening a high school.

With the assistance of local voters who passed bond issues in 1994 and 1997, RRPS began an aggressive building program that led to the completion of Colinas del Norte Elementary, Eagle Ridge Middle School, a permanent facility for Mountain View Middle School, a new Puesta del Sol Elementary (the old Puesta facility was sold to the Archdiocese of Santa Fe), and an addition to Rio Rancho Elementary. But, understandably, Rio Rancho residents and the business community keenly felt the absence of a high school and began to explore the possibility of funding and building a high school.

The Observer: Has the district been audited? When and by whom? What was their determination?

RRPS: Like all school districts in New Mexico, Rio Rancho is subject to annual audits. These are performed by private firms engaged by the school district and submitted to the state Public Education Department and the State Auditor for review. The current audit firm is Griego Professional Services. Previously, from 1999 to 2005, district audits were completed by Accounting and Consulting Group, LLC. The district has received unqualified (i.e. clean) audits since the district was founded in 1995.

RRPS was also reviewed last spring by a team from the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC), a standing committee of the state legislature. The LFC chose to review Rio Rancho because it’s a stable district with experience with school construction and a positive reputation for student performance. While the outcome of any such review includes suggestions for improvement, the report stated: “Overall, the Rio Rancho Public School district is well run and appropriately focuses efforts and resources on the classroom, which has helped produce positive student outcomes.”

The Observer: You said RRHS was built before the original schedule. We know Intel was also involved with that campus. Can you give us the background on RRHS and Intel?

RRPS: In 1995, Intel was considering a plant expansion and approached Sandoval County about the possibility of issuing Industrial Revenue Bonds (IRBs) to finance the project. As part of this request, Intel was willing to provide Sandoval County with funds for local projects benefiting the local area. One of the area’s biggest needs was for a high school to serve Rio Rancho. This led to conversations among Sandoval County, Intel, the City of Rio Rancho, and the school district about the possibility of Intel building a high school for Rio Rancho.

The result of these discussions was a unique community/business partnership. The Sandoval County Commission approved the issuance of $8 billion in industrial revenue bonds permitting Intel Corporation to finance plant improvements. In return, Intel built the $30 million high school facility — the city’s first — and leased it for one dollar per year to the Rio Rancho Public Schools. Because Intel had recently completed plant construction work in Rio Rancho, it had resources to manage the construction project in place. Rio Rancho High was built as a “design-build” project by the private sector.

Intel built the core facility: four of the five academy buildings, a gym and the performing arts center. The district was responsible for providing furnishings, technology, and equipment. The district subsequently completed the current Humanities Academy building, as well as all of the athletics facilities and other improvements. The 2007 bond issue includes plans to add a drama classroom/”black box” theater facility and field house facilities for soccer, track, and cross country to the Rio Rancho High campus.

The Observer: So Intel did not pay for the entire school. Where did the money come from to finish the part paid for by the district?

RRPS: The improvements to Rio Rancho High were financed by voter-approved bond issues. Specific athletics-related projects (such as the artificial turf for the football and baseball fields) have been paid for through funds provided by Sandoval County. RRPS has put about $30 million into the facility since Intel’s original $30 million investment.