Since Public Education Department officials suggested Española Valley High School teacher and coach Richard Martinez was too dangerous to be around students, he has earned his approximately $49,000 annual salary working in Superintendent Eric Martinez’s office.
It’s unclear what Richard Martinez’s duties are and multiple attempts to reach District officials to ask about his assignment, were unsuccessful.
While some community members have expressed displeasure about Richard Martinez’s position in the superintendent’s office, they are more uncomfortable with how Española School District officials are finding instructors to teach his classes.
Richard Martinez has worked out of a conference room in the District’s wing of Española Middle School, since the beginning of the school year, pending the outcome of a yet-to-be-scheduled license revocation hearing. Department officials are seeking to strip the troubled coach of his licenses, following the conclusion of an investigation that determined he exhibited “disturbing and abusive behavior” toward students he taught and coached.
Since school started in August, Española School Board member Ruben Archuleta said he has fielded several complaints from community members. Most, if not all, of the complaints centered around Eric Martinez allowing unlicensed individuals to teach the high school’s first period physical education class in Richard Martinez’s absence.
Española Valley High Principal Tom Graves said as far as he can tell, the superintendent assigned Eric Martinez, Richard Martinez’s brother, to teach the class.
But, when the coach’s brother Eric Martinez doesn’t show up for work, which is often, Graves said the class is taught by a few of Richard Martinez’s assistant coaches, which includes his relative Arnie Martinez and associates Ernest Salazar and Danny Tidwell.
“Central office tends to do what they want,” Graves said. “I am left out of the loop. People are coming in and out, I don’t know where they get the keys from.”
It is unclear if Richard Martinez’s reported hand-picked replacements have the required teaching licenses because the Department’s database requires the last four digits of a Social Security number to conduct a search and the superintendent who is the District’s de facto spokesman didn’t return calls seeking answers regarding the licensure and other questions.
However, when District parent Jose Serrano questioned District Athletic Coordinator Eric Vigil about the unlicensed individuals teaching the physical education classes, he said he “didn’t see a problem with it” because there were 40 students to one teacher.
Graves said the superintendent’s decision to intervene is an indication of the challenges the District faces in giving Española Valley students the education they deserve.
“This is frustrating,” he said. “On a bad day, we are 10 times better than what we were. But the frustration I have is with the administration.”
He said he is bothered because at the end of the day, as the school’s principal, he is responsible for both the safety of the students and their educational outcomes.
“It is frustrating because they hold me accountable for decisions I had no role in making,” he said. “That is exactly wrong.”
It is uncertain how long Richard Martinez will be sidelined, or if he will ever return to the classroom because Department Public Information Officer Robert McEntyre said his office has not scheduled a hearing to determine if the teacher/coach will be able to keep his licenses.