The Española School District spent $11,597 of its operational budget for out-of-state travel and accommodations for all five Board members to attend various professional development conferences since the 2015 school year began.
According to financial records made public by the District, an additional $2,439 was spent on registration for the Board members to attend out-of-state conferences and workshops, not including the annual National School Board Association Conference, in Boston, Mass., from April 8 to 11.
Concerns regarding Board members traveling on the District’s dime surfaced on social media and on Internet forums when several Española Board members posted photos of their extracurricular activities in Boston, including pictures of some of them eating lobster and others attending athletic events while on their training weekend.
District officials have yet to disclose the amount spent on registration for the Boston conference, but the National School Board Conference website states early registration costs $915 and $965 if attendees registered after Jan. 15. Registration does not include optional conference workshops which range in price from $100-$320 each.
Out-of-state travel expenses, including air travel, meals and hotel rooms, are covered by the District and are not included in conference fees.
In November 2015, the Board also approved out-of-state travel requests for Board members to attend conferences in Washington, D.C., and for Vice President Lucas Fresquez to attend the National Association of Latino Elected Officials Conference in San Antonio, Texas.
The Washington, D.C., conference, originally scheduled for Jan. 24-26, was rescheduled for June, due to bad weather.
Not all records had been made public on the District website, but according to financial documents obtained as a result of an Inspection of Publics Records Act request, the Española School Board members were reimbursed more than $3,600 in personal expenses associated with out-of-state travel since the beginning of school year 2015.
Racking up credits
Board President Pablo Lujan accounted for close to half of the total amount. According to the records, Lujan requested $1,585.64 in reimbursements since 2015.
Per state statute, Board members receive a $45 per day per diem for meals, although budget projections for at least one conference this year outlined a projected budget of $45 per meal, for a two-day conference planned by former superintendent Bobbie Gutierrez and Human Resources Director Esther Romero.
Interin Finance director Myrna Garcia said this was a mistake which would be corrected.
She said the public doesn’t realize School Board members are required by the state to attend several workshops and mandatory classes.
“State statute requires Board members to take a certain amount of courses a year,” she said.
The Legislature passed a rule that Board members need to keep up with the changes in the law. Garcia said just like a certified public accountant has certain requirements to maintain his license, the state requires Board members to get a certain amount of credits.
She said travel and hotel costs for conferences are paid for with District funds because the state does not make funding available for these costs.
“It’s what is known as an unfunded mandate,” she said.
According to state statutes regulating mandatory training for local school Boards, the legislature only requires a total of five hours of annual training.
New Mexico Administrative Code, Title 6, Chapter 29 part 1, section 9a under general provisions, procedural requirements states, “All local school board members shall receive a total of five hours of annual training.”
The exceptions are newly-elected or appointed Board members who are in office for less than a year who may require additional training. The statute also partly states all Board members who have been in office for one or more years shall attend five hours of annual training approved by the Public Education Department.
Joe Guillen, executive director of the New Mexico School Boards Association said it was up to each local school district’s discretion if they required additional training for its members.
He said the School Board Association does not provide for any monetary awards to assist in financing out of state travel for regional Board members.
“We encourage as much training as possible for our members,” he said. “With all the complex issues we face in the school system, we want each of them to have as much training and knowledge as they possibly can. You would want your doctor to have as much current training and available knowledge, as well.”
Although Board members are required to sign attendance records for every conference they attend, Guillen said the Association has no way of actually verifying if Board members are attending the classes or workshops they have signed up to participate in.
A Public Education Department spokesperson said the state leaves it up to the local school Districts to track attendance.
The Association sponsors a leadership development program which recognizes Board members for seeking training by recognizing the levels of training and expertise they achieve.
Guillen said members can accrue up to 44 credit hours and achieve a certification of Master Board Member. Once this rank is achieved, no additional credit for training can be bestowed on an individual Board member.
Eligibility
The Association breaks down eligibility for leadership awards by levels with Level I members having reached 24 training hours during a training year, which runs from Sept. 1 to Aug. 31 of the specific year. Level II members have reached 36 cumulative training hours, while exemplary members have earned 20 credit hours and master Board members have reached a 44 hour level plateau.
According to documentation provided by the Association, by 2015, two of the five Española Board members achieved level II status. Anabelle Almager and Fresquez had both logged 36 cumulative credit hours. Yolanda Salazar and Ruben Archuleta had logged at least 24 hours. Lujan had logged the fewest, with 20 or more credited hours.
It is not clear how many of the accumulated hours were logged this year or in previous years, and documents do not specify how many of the workshops or conferences were in state or out of state, but Guillen said members can earn credits locally.
Guillen said the Association is required by state law to report to the secretary of education, a list of Board members who have not met their annual credit hour minimum requirement, but a records request made by a Rio Grande SUN reporter for these records was not answered by the Association because Guillen said the Association is a nonprofit and therefore, is not required to provide registration records for conference attendance.
As part of an ongoing probe of the District, the state Attorney General’s Office requested to inspect certain documents and records from the District including all travel records and expenses from the Board as a group and as individual members.
Archuleta said he has opted not to attend out of state conferences in the past for frugal reasons, but he accrued most of his required credits this year in Boston. He said he chose to participate in the conference because he holds the position of western region director of the Hispanic caucus.
Archuleta said he was expected to help with elections and other duties at the event.
Lujan said he would not deter any Board member from attending a conference, if they wanted to do so.
He said Board members are always learning about different topics and the conferences serve as valuable staff and professional development opportunities.
Lujan said he thought the travel expenses were justified because every district runs differently and Española is a bigger District than most in the region.
The Mesa Vista Board voted not to send members to the Boston conference, although Board President Andy Lopez said the District did allot some funds in their operational budget for upcoming Fiscal Year 2016-17, for future conference attendance and travel.
“I chose not to go to that,” Lopez said, speaking about the Boston conference.
Discussion among the members during Mesa Vista Board meetings last year also included the possibility of sending one or two Board members to out-of-state conferences, and instead sharing the information with the remaining Board members in response to the fiscal realities facing the state and education.
Members discussed attending upcoming regional conferences in Albuquerque or paying for conference registration and travel on their own, in order to save money on out-of-state travel.