PED received few complaints on ‘snow day for action’

Skandera said gripes about gathering at Capitol prompted investigation into district

After public school administrators in Santa Fe closed campuses for half a day last month and urged teachers, parents and students to gather at the state Capitol to protest proposed education funding cuts, four complaints were emailed to the New Mexico Public Education Department in response to the so-called “snow day for action,” according to documents the agency released under the state’s public-records law.

Two complaints came from teachers, one that said that under union contracts, teachers should be released from duty as soon as school closes and are free to use their off-duty time as they please. Another expressed support for Gov. Susana Martinez’s insistence on “no new taxes.”

Two other emails voiced concern about the school district using public money to hold the March 16 rally at the Roundhouse, which drew about 1,500 supporters. “I’m unhappy that my tax dollars are being used to pay teachers and staff of schools to lobby in order to increase my taxes,” one of those emails said.

State Public Education Secretary Hanna Skandera said complaints from teachers, parents and students had prompted her office to launch an investigation into whether Santa Fe Public Schools had violated a state law prohibiting the use of public funds for political purposes, setting up a dispute with the district.

Skandera also asked Superintendent Veronica García to conduct her own investigation into whether principals were mandating teachers’ attendance at the rally, and whether teachers were holding classroom activities in which students were expected to write letters to the governor urging her to protect public education funding.

But the district’s response to the records request raises questions about whether she mischaracterized the number of complaints the Public Education Department received.

Asked to comment on the issue, Skandera said in an email this week, “We received letters and calls of concerns from parents regarding the half day … it’s imperative that taxpayer dollars are used appropriately — in the case of our schools, to help our kids learn and succeed.”

Jeff Gephart, a spokesman for Santa Fe Public Schools, said in an email that the few complaints were “dwarfed by the thousands of students, families, faculty, and staff who expressed their appreciation for the opportunity to participate in this event.

“Furthermore,” Gephart said, “despite allegations to the contrary, the documents provided by NMPED present no evidence

of staff or students being forced to participate.”

The only complaint regarding a principal cited an email from Nye Early Childhood Center Principal Angela Esquibel-Martinez, who asked her staff to “please use this time for advocacy. Our collective voice is needed desperately! We cannot afford not to gather/unite/ protest/rally!”

Ahead of the event, Gephart and García said no one would be required to attend. A March 15 memo from García to her staff says, “Please keep in mind your partnership is voluntary.”

Last week, school district attorneys Tony Ortiz and Geno Zamora sent a letter to Skandera in response to her notice of an investigation, saying the district was within its legal and moral rights to hold the rally, and that the district essentially had done the same thing Skandera and the governor do when they hold news conferences in public schools during school hours to advocate for education initiatives.

Skandera said Thursday she is still reviewing that letter as part of the investigation.

Gephart said he hopes the education department and the school district can put aside their conflict and focus on ensuring that public schools have sufficient funding in the coming year.