Rather than borrowing from the Española School District’s bulging rolodex of educational consultants when it came time to spend his school’s $50,000 school improvement grant, Española Military Academy Headmaster Steve Baca turned to the one consultant he knows best: his girlfriend, Jennifer Kongsvik.
The Academy issued Kongsvik a contract Aug. 11, 2008, for up to $15,000 to serve as the school’s “Instructional Coach,” according to the contract. Baca refused to answer any questions not provided in writing for this story, but had described Kongsvik as his girlfriend during an August conversation. Both are listed together under the same phone number and address in the Santa Fe phone book. Kongsvik also traveled with Baca on the Academy’s annual trip to Peru, according to Academy records.
Kongsvik’s contract is signed only by her and Baca. Board President Patrick Trujillo said that, though he knew of the contract and of Baca’s relationship with Kongsvik, the Board was never asked to formally approve the contract.
Two other Board members said Baca had not disclosed his relationship with Kongsvik, but were split on whether the contract is appropriate.
“You know what, I as one Board member did not know that,” member Paul Peña said. “The Board should definitely have been informed of that, and we would have taken that into consideration when deciding on whether to issue the contract.”
Board member Pete Gomez disagreed.
“I know she’s a teacher in Santa Fe, but I don’t know anything about a girlfriend,” Gomez said. “But if she’s a professional person and she has the capabilities, I don’t have any problem with it.”
Española School District Superintendent David Cockerham said he is not certain the contract is unethical, but is sure it is not illegal — he said no law he knows of addresses professional relationships between unmarried partners. State Education Department spokeswoman Beverly Friedman declined to comment because the Department had not investigated the relationship.
Baca also hired his sister, Estelle Ana Baca, as a teacher in August. The Department listed that as one of several reasons why the state Public Education Commission should not renew the school’s charter.
Kongsvik, a fourth-grade teacher at Larragoite Elementary in Santa Fe, is trained in a California-based program that coaches teachers in teaching literacy, according to a letter Baca sent the District Jan. 26.
“(Kongsvik) has already trained, mentored and coached most of the (Academy) staff in the instructional strategies within the literacy framework,” Baca wrote.
Baca budgeted for Kongsvik’s fees in an application for a school improvement grant from the state Education Department that he submitted Feb. 2 to the District. The Academy also budgeted $30,000 from the grant to pay stipends to Academy teachers who attended the weekend training session led by Kongsvik and $1,820 to hire substitutes while Academy teachers “observe master teaching techniques.”
All New Mexico schools with corrective action or school improvement designations under the federal No Child Left Behind Act were eligible to receive $50,000 this school year for “technical assistance, professional development or curriculum or program implementation” to help improve standardized test scores, according to a funding application.
Because the Academy is still a semi-autonomous school under the District’s supervision, the school had to apply for the grant together with the District’s other schools. Under the grant’s terms, the District, not the Academy, must pay Kongsvik’s fees and the teacher stipends.
District Business Manager Charlene Sanchez said the Academy has not yet asked for the District to make those payments, and the District would likely have to reimburse the Academy for any payments it has already made.
Correspondence from Baca to District administrators suggests Kongsvik has started billing the Academy.
“After completion of training, (Kongsvik) submits an invoice that reflects her daily rate of pay, a breakdown of any necessary resources and additional preparation time,” Baca wrote Feb. 2. “(The Academy) maintains a professional development binder in my office to reflect all trainings completed to date.”
The contract pays Kongsvik $500 a day, plus $25 an hour for “off-site prep costs,” reimbursement for class materials and mileage reimbursement at 32 cents a mile. Baca declined to provide any records of payments to Kongsvik before Tuesday evening, and Kongsvik could not be reached for comment.
Though the contract issued to Kongsvik in August calls for her fees to come out of the school improvement grant, Baca almost derailed that when he instead budgeted to spend the grant on a $41,820 salary for an additional math teacher in a January application. That plan was scrapped after District Regional Quality Director Christiana Sisneros pointed out that after factoring in benefits, that amount would only cover a $20,910 salary for that teacher.
Sisneros submitted the Academy’s updated Feb. 2 application to the Department, which told her moving funding in the grant budget from salaries to a professional development contract was highly unusual.
E-mails show that in at least two instances in recent months, Baca declined invitations from the District to send Academy teachers to District-wide professional development sessions.