Local parents say school traffic is making students late to class

RIO RANCHO, N.M. – It’s 8 a.m., 20 minutes before the first bell at Mountain View Middle School, and parents were already lining up on the street. 

One concerned mother of a Mountain View Middle Schooler and a Cleveland High Schooler told KOB 4 Rio Rancho Public Schools have been disciplining students if they’re late. 

“There’s times I’m in line at like 8:05, and I still can’t drop her off until closer to 8:15-8:16, and she barely makes it to class, if she makes it to class on time,” said the mother. 

But she believes traffic, and the amount of students all going to school at the same time are the real culprits. 

“If they can’t control their overcrowding, then they need to be a little more lenient,” said the mother. 

Construction is also a culprit like the big project along King Boulevard, near Cielo Azul Elementary, making a mess for parents during pick up.

“So the traffic has been an issue even before the construction, so there’s only one way in and one way out here on this main road to pick up the kids. So a lot of the parents, we park in the neighborhood behind us, so we can walk, and be on time to get our kids,” said one parent. 

Traffic and tardiness heightened safety concerns as well, especially at Cleveland High School. 

“There’s a lot of kids that I’ve seen just off-roading on the side of the road,” said a parent.  “Kids are in a rush to get there, so they don’t get referred for tardiness.”

Rio Rancho Public Schools told KOB 4 they can’t direct traffic outside of school property. 

In a statement, a district RRPS representative went on to say:

“There has not been an increase in tardiness throughout the district and schools work with parents on construction or other unforeseen issues that may cause delays.”

School representatives encourage parents to reach out to administration if they feel their student has wrongfully been given a tardy.