RIO RANCHO – Rio Rancho Public Schools Board of Education Board members, except for Jessica Tyler, attending via telephone, watched an eight-minute video produced by the New Mexico Activities Association that dealt with its new code of conduct, aka the “Two Strikes Rule,” at its Aug. 28 meeting.

New Executive Director of Athletics Todd Resch, a former basketball coach, introduced the video, advising it deals with “egregious, unsportsmanlike behavior by players, coaches and fans,” noting a total 315 ejections of players and coaches in the 2022-23 school year.

“The problem is getting worse and something needs to be done,” Resch said, explaining that the video has been sent to both high schools and the district’s four middle schools, to be shown at parent meetings so the expectations are known.

The five board members, as well as Superintendent Sue Cleveland, have had either their own children and, in board member Noreen Scott’s case, a grandchild, active in sports in the district.

“We really need to get back to what athletics is all about,” Cleveland said. “We really implore everyone to make it a good situation for our kids. … This also applies to (non-athletics) as well.”

In other matters on the board agenda:

“At that point, the 13-person committee will take a look at those … go through those … and (determine) if those people should be honored,” Eppes said. “We can also do up to four people, zero to four.”

Nominees, for example, could be former school board members, community members/businesses, former RRPS staff members, government officials and school district volunteers. The nominating form and more information may be found on the district’s website. (rrps.net; click on NEWS.)

  • The board also commended a trio of high school bowlers — Kylie Belnap and Mia Medina of Rio Rancho High School and Todd Muller of Cleveland High — for their recent participation in the U.S. Bowling Congress’s Junior Gold Championships in Indianapolis, where Muller said he embarrassingly slipped and fell on the lanes but learned a lot.

The board also lauded RRHS junior Payton Black for winning the Notah Begay III regional golf tournament,  qualifying him for the national event in Louisiana in early November.

  • As the 75-minute meeting wound down, the board unanimously approved the 2023-24 Preventative Maintenance Plan as reviewed by RRPS Executive Director of Facilities Patrick Martinez, which Cleveland said is “really such a smart thing to do,” and had the first reading for four policies: Policy 606 (cistrict credit card usage), Policy 607 (fiscal accounting and reporting), Policy 608 (financial system and expenditure reports) and Policy 609 (budget transfers).

Second readings at a future meeting will take place before formal adoption of those polices, also readable on the RRPS website.

  • The consideration of a land exchange agreement between the city of Rio Rancho and RRPS was tabled, pending more review and discussion. The board spent time going over that potential agreement during an executive session, held before the Aug. 28 regular meeting.

The board decided later in the week to have an executive session Tuesday, Sept. 5, at 3 p.m., after meeting in executive session to discuss the land swap further.

The board’s next regular meeting is set for 5:30 p.m. Sept. 11.