State wants to close La Promesa charter school in ABQ
The New Mexico Public Education Department is recommending closure of La Promesa Early Learning Center, a charter school founded by embattled Albuquerque Public Schools Board member Analee Maestas, who is facing fraud allegations.
The PED’s recommendation was crafted by its charter school experts for the New Mexico Public Education Commission, an elected body that oversees state charter schools. The commission will meet at 9 a.m. Friday in Santa Fe to consider whether to begin revoking La Promesa’s charter, which would effectively shut down the K-8 school
at 7500 La Morada Place NW in Albuquerque. The school currently has an enrollment of 387.
According to a document posted on PED’s website, La Promesa has deep financial problems that “appear to be significant and point to the inability of the school to manage themselves.”
“PED believes there is adequate information to demonstrate the school has failed to meet generally accepted standards of fiscal management and/or has violated provision(s) of law,” the report says.
In August, the PED took control of La Promesa’s finances and completed a thorough audit highlighting a variety of irregularities, including missing backup invoices for purchases, lack of evidence for goods received and cash disbursements to management without supporting documentation.
The investigation was triggered by state Auditor Tim Keller’s determination that Maestas had doctored a receipt to receive improper reimbursement for maintenance work done at her home, not the school.
Keller’s July report says that Maestas paid about $340 for duct cleaning for her residence, then wrote over the receipt to make it appear the cleaning company had worked on carpets at La Promesa.
New Mexico Deputy Secretary of Education Paul Aguilar told the Journal on Tuesday that after assuming control, the PED found that the school’s finances were “considerably worse than we thought.”
A new review of La Promesa from the state Auditor’s Office has not been publicly released, but Aguilar said it shows the problems have not improved.
“The issues that were raised are troubling and concerning in many ways as we approach the idea of how a school manages itself,” he said. Aguilar also cited a significant slide in academic performance at the 11-year-old charter school, which dropped from a C to an F from 2015 to 2016.
“It’s a school that is failing students, it is failing the public trust of the citizens of New Mexico, and it is deserving of a recommendation to close,” Aguilar said.
In a prepared statement, La Promesa principal Chris Jones said staffers have met PED’s required changes to financial practices and “no new issues have been presented.”
“(La Promesa) is eager to understand the basis for NM PED’s recommendation to revoke the school’s charter at this juncture,” Jones said. “The school’s enrollment has held steady as has staff, which boasts over a 96 percent retention rate since August when the suspension occurred. Academic performance indicators for SY 16-17 have already been met and exceeded in most cases in the areas of math and reading.”
The charter revocation process includes a public hearing, which gives the school a chance to make its case before the commissioners. The PED’s documents say the hearing must take place no later than April 1.
Maestas did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday afternoon, and her lead attorney was out of state and not available to respond.
Aguilar said the PED’s investigative department on Friday completed a review of Maestas’ conduct and forwarded it to its legal experts, who will consider whether to pull her education licenses. The case could also bring criminal charges, including two felonies.
A longtime educator and APS District 1 representative, Maestas founded La Promesa in 2005 with an emphasis on early childhood learning and duallanguage education, growing the school from 27 students to its current enrollment.
She was placed on paid administrative leave from her position as executive director in July.