Socorro School board move forward with special education investigation

The Socorro School Board reevaluated the relevance of its financial and special education investigations. This decision followed the emergence of new information since the unanimous vote in January to proceed with those investigations.

Financial Investigation

Elena Gallegos, legal advisor from Gallegos Walsh Law Firm, explained the vendor quotes on the third-party investigations and explained the process for both the external financial and special education investigations.

Gallegos highlighted the significance of ensuring that any chosen vendor complies with the standards set by the New Mexico Audit Act, particularly if the investigation is categorized as a special audit. She explained that this precaution is necessary to avoid the risk of having to pay for a second audit if the initial one fails to meet state requirements. Gallegos also warned against combining elements from different quotes or negotiating new scopes with vendors whose quotes do not fulfill procurement requirements, as this practice would undermine fairness and competitiveness in the process.

Board Vice President Tara Jaramillo said some of the questions the board had earlier in the year about the finances were answered three months ago.

“I’m just wondering about the age of when we asked for this information, and how much of that has already been answered,” Tara Jaramillo said,” I would be apt to say, we need to go out for another scope of work that could identify, really what we’re looking at."

Board member Dave Hicks said he agreed with Jaramillo.

“I think the scope has kind of changed a little,” Hicks said, “I think we need to kind of go back and regroup and figure out what scope this is, because looking at these, I’m not really comfortable with spending that much money on some of these that I don’t really have questions about anymore.”

Board members asked Gallegos questions and discussed the details of each quote and the relevance of the scope of work originally requested. The board ultimately voted unanimously to reject the current quotes for the external financial investigation, recognizing that the scope of work needed to be updated and refined.

The relevance was also brought up in the special education investigation. Board Member Sharon Sessions suggested rejecting the quotes, like they did with the financial audit, and regrouping and identifying what questions they still have.

“I feel uncomfortable with dropping that altogether, but I’d like to revisit it with the recommendation,” Sessions said.

Noting major changes, Tara Jaramillo said she felt “extremely uncomfortable moving forward” before talking to the special education director.

“I don’t want to be presumptuous and do that for her, when there have been some major changes that have happened.” Tara Jaramillo said.

Hicks said six months ago he would have identified special education as the number one problem.

“The whole purpose of this was to be able to identify this is what we need to do to get better. And I have a hard time believing in it in five or six months... so I agree. I’m uncomfortable with just tossing this (investigation) out.” Hicks said.

Gallegos said she wondered if the task still sits with the board or if it should go to the superintendent, given that the special education director is her employee. She said an option was to reject the vendors with the message to the superintendent that special education remains a priority.

“Do I believe that working through this can be fixed within three months, four months, six months? Absolutely not, because it didn’t take us three months, four months to get here. It took us years and years to get here. I do believe that we are on the path moving forward.” Tara Jaramillo said.

Hicks made a motion for the approval of negotiations to be made with the Cooperative Education Service (CES) vendor, not to exceed $18,000. Hicks, Sessions and Tara Jaramillo voted in favor, and Pauline Jaramillo voted against.

“For the record, I’m voting because I really feel like we’ve accomplished whatever we’ve set up for the scope of services.” Pauline Jaramillo said.

She said, given the number of suits they currently have, she didn’t feel like they should be spending money on items they have already accomplished.

Public Comment

Mark Martin told the board that he worked at the school district first through a third-party contractor and later as a school bus driver because there was a need. He said that as an employee, he felt that he went above and beyond for the district and the students.

“I was terminated under circumstances that I believe were retaliatory and unfair. I’ve since filed a formal complaint, and I know it will be discussed behind closed doors,” Martin said, “I asked for resolution, quietly, respectfully, and in good faith. When those efforts were ignored, I was left with no choice but to file in federal district court. That was not my goal. That was my last resort.”

Superintendent’s Report

Gormley said that during the first two days of school, she spent time monitoring traffic at the new middle school and high school. She noted that parents were patient and respectful, but traffic congestion remained a challenge. She said a traffic study will be conducted to find solutions.

On the first day, it took about 27–30 minutes to clear the middle school drop-off/pick-up loop; on the next day, it was about 17 minutes, showing some improvement, but there is still backup on Michigan Avenue, said Gormley.

Gormley reported that the district welcomed many new students and staff. Teachers had three days of professional development before school started, including training on “Capturing Kids’ Hearts” (focused on building relationships and social-emotional learning), active shooter training, and restorative practices. She said the trainings were well received by staff.

She also gave a presentation on the guard rails and goals. She said the board adopted specific, measurable goals for student achievement and well-being, with a focus on reading, math, post-secondary readiness, and also a sense of belonging.

The guardrails were set to ensure effective PLC (Professional Learning Communities), a whole-child approach, and community engagement in decision-making.

She presented slides outlining specific goals and interim goals, explaining how they will be measured. She explained that the goals were established to monitor annual progress and guide district actions. She emphasized that the process was designed to be transparent, data-driven, and inclusive of community input.

“I’m kind of putting a lot of pressure on myself. I’ve got to set the bar high enough, but I wouldn’t set it there if I didn’t think that it would make positive impact and that we could achieve it.” Gormley said.

The board thanked her for her work.

On Tuesday, August 5, the board held a special meeting with information for potential school board candidates. They will announce a candidate to replace Kathleen Ocampo’s seat at their next regular board meeting at 5 p.m. on August 18.