Two Los Lunas school board members reinstated after appeal
May 21—Two members of the Los Lunas school board who were suspended by the state in May 2021 are expected to take back their seats in the Valencia County district of about 8,000 students following a judge's order published Friday.
The New Mexico Public Education Department had indefinitely suspended all board members last year after allegations of state procurement code violations and other issues. In place of the board, the agency appointed governing committee members two months later.
In August, the department made the suspensions permanent but determined board members Frank Otero and David Vickers had done nothing wrong. Vickers was later reelected to his seat.
Former board President Eloy Giron and former board member Bryan Smith, who could be reinstated, filed an appeal in September.
State District Judge Maria Sanchez-Gagne in Santa Fe ruled Friday the Public Education Department didn't act fraudulently or capriciously in suspending the board, but didn't have substantial evidence to suspend Giron and Smith. She also found the Public Education Commission, tasked with overseeing and approving state charter schools, was not consulted about their suspensions.
According to state codes, the commission must be consulted before a public education secretary can permanently suspend a school board.
"The PED is reviewing the court order and determining what, if any, further action to take," education department spokeswoman Judy Robinson wrote in an email.
A fifth suspended board member, Steven Otero — no relation to Frank Otero — lost his bid for reelection and is facing two misdemeanor charges accusing him of ethics violations.
A 21-page document, used by Public Education Secretary Kurt Steinhaus in justifying the permanent suspension of the board members in August, notes Steven Otero ran for school board after he was not hired for a construction supervisor job at the district and told several people "heads were going to roll."
The document, which lists findings against the board members, alleged Steven Otero and Giron overly involved themselves in day-to-day operations by repeatedly asking that local vendors be prioritized for service bids. The pair also frequently spoke with then-interim Superintendent Walter Gibson about employees they felt were "not competent," according to the document.
In his nine-month tenure before current Superintendent Arsenio Romero was hired, Gibson said he never heard any "serious conversation about teaching and learning, about instruction, about curriculum" at board meetings.
Gibson took the role in 2020 after the departure of Superintendent Dana Sanders, who filed a lawsuit alleging she was edged out of her job for exposing board corruption.
Under Gibson's leadership, Steven Otero had concerns about the district's maintenance department, which reportedly prompted the board to approve an outside audit for $45,000, plus $20,000 in legal services, without seeking required approval from the State Auditor's Office.
A pretrial conference for Otero's case is scheduled for late June.
