Rio Grande HS principal ignored advice

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Albuquerque Public Schools Superintendent Winston Brooks says newly appointed Rio Grande High School Principal Cynthia Challberg-Hale went ahead and scrapped existing class schedules after the district advised her not to.

Brooks addressed a packed room of angry parents at Wednesday night's school board meeting.

Many parents of students at Rio Grande High School demanded answers and accountablility over the class schedule fiasco that's left students without their final schedules two weeks into the school year.

"To be honest, I really don't think Principal Hale knew at the time all of the complexities and what the cause and effect of this might be," Brooks said.

The past two weeks, students have been placed in temporary classes while the district finishes the permanent schedules.

Brooks promised new schedules will be distributed on Tuesday.

The meeting was marked by several outbursts from angry parents and was even stopped for five minutes after a parent lashed out at a school board member.

Brooks says the district is talking with the state to find ways for students to make up for lost class time.

One possibility will be to hold an extra day of classes or tutorial sessions.