Española school board rebukes outspoken member
Censure carries no legal weight but admonishes Lujan for ‘negative and demeaning’ comments
The Española school board voted 3-1 Wednesday night to censure board member Pablo Lujan for repeatedly making “negative and demeaning” public comments to a local newspaper about the school district’s finances, leadership and other board members.
The move, which does not carry any legal weight, serves as a public rebuke for a school board member who some see as defiant of efforts by the board’s current majority to change the district’s image and direction following nearly 18 months of political and legal turmoil, which started with controversy over a high school basketball coach.
But a combative Lujan — who voted against the censure approved by board members Ruben Archuleta, Gilbert Serrano and Yolanda Salazar — said the act was a “politically motivated” effort to stop him from speaking out about questionable practices regarding the hiring of district personnel and other matters.
“You’re trying to censure me because I’ve spoken my opinion,” he told the board. He said he stands by all the comments he has given to reporters regarding the district’s problems over the past six months.
“This was collaborated by you guys,” he said, accusing the others of planning the move without providing him with specifics about the charges until Wednesday’s board meeting.
Salazar responded that the board did discuss the matter in closed-door session while Lujan was present. The measure was also noted on an agenda posted 72 hours in advance of Wednesday’s meeting, from which board member Patrick Herrera was absent.
Wednesday’s vote came less than a month after the fivemember board met in a retreat intended to bring the members together.
During that August retreat, board President Archuleta said the board was considering censuring Lujan for allegedly talking to a reporter for the Rio Grande Sun about a settlement the district had reached with former boys basketball coach Richard Martinez. Parents of four players had claimed in a lawsuit that
Martinez bullied both players and parents.
The Española weekly newspaper reported in July that Lujan said the district should not have settled because “it sets precedent that if you don’t make the team, you can sue and they will settle.”
But the Rio Grande Sun this week reported that Lujan told one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs in August that he had not made any such statement, and if he did, “I hereby recant that statement and apologize to all parties involved.”
That was not enough to satisfy some of the other board members at Wednesday’s meeting.
Salazar, reading from a letter of censure she introduced, said Lujan had been making similar improper statements to reporters that were false, unsupported and could bring about legal action.
His actions, she said, were making him “a civic liability” for the district.
After the meeting, Archuleta said he hopes the censure will help Lujan “turn the corner and see that his actions are hurting students.”
The turmoil started after the school district hired Bobbie Gutierrez as superintendent in 2015 and she set about investigating how Martinez conducted himself on the job. Gutierrez placed him on leave following a district investigation into allegations he was intimidating players and parents. The Public Education Department then began investigating similar complaints about Martinez.
In response to the superintendent’s decision to place Martinez on leave, the board — including Lujan — pressured her to resign. The board then replaced her with Eric Martinez — no relation to Richard Martinez — who reinstated Richard Martinez, an action that drew community and parental criticism of the district’s leadership.
Meanwhile, the Public Education Department late last year took over the district’s finances, citing a number of problems under Eric Martinez’s leadership. The department also scheduled a May hearing to determine whether it should revoke Richard Martinez’s teaching license. But before that hearing, Richard Martinez made a deal with the Public Education Department to resign from his position, give up his coaching license and agreeing not teach for a year.
Earlier this year, voters elected two new board members — Herrera and Serrano. The newly reorganized board chose standing member Archuleta, known for his efforts to bring reform to the district and hold its leaders accountable, as president. The new board voted 4-1 in the spring to place Eric Martinez on leave and, in a separate vote, rehired Gutierrez to succeed him as superintendent.
Only Lujan, whose term ends in early 2019, voted against both of those decisions.
Joe Guillen, executive director of the New Mexico School Boards Association, said Wednesday that instances in which school boards censure one of their members occur “from time to time across the state if the majority of the board feels that there is a board member who acts inappropriately.”