After a physical altercation with a fellow Board member during the Jan. 10 meeting, the Cariños Charter School Governance Board dismissed Secretary Del Jimenez.
Board President Juanita Cata and members Leo Marquez and Glenda Sanchez voted, Jan. 26, to part ways with Jimenez for what they collectively characterized as incessant, disruptive behavior.
Cata made the motion to remove Jimenez shortly after the beginning of the Jan. 26 meeting because she said his behavior and continued presence serves as an impediment to the Charter’s School’s progress.
“He has mistreated invited guests and fellow Board members and doesn’t respect the chair when he is called out of order,” she said prior to making the motion. “Specifically, Mr. Jimenez’s inappropriate actions have become very disruptive, obstructive and demoralizing to our Board. If he isn’t removed, I feel our Board will not be a functioning Board.”
Sanchez supported the motion because she said during her short time on the Board, Jimenez has exhibited confrontational, condescending and rude behavior.
Jimenez was not present at the Jan. 26 meeting and didn’t get a chance to weigh in on the Board’s decision.
The decision to remove Jimenez came less than three weeks after his and former Board member Tomas Garcia’s disagreement turned physical. Garcia and Jimenez squared off, exchanged insults and started physically fighting at the beginning of the Board’s Jan, 10 meeting, after Garcia became agitated at the aggressive tone Jimenez took during a line of questioning with Elsa Lopez of Somos Un Pueblo Unido.
Lopez attended the meeting to give a presentation on the importance of becoming a sanctuary campus and not aiding federal officials during the immigration enforcement process.
The Board acted in accordance with the Charter School’s established bylaws, which essentially state that a Board member can be removed if it is determined his or her action, or actions, interferes with the school’s goals.
“Any Board member of the Governance Board may be removed by the Governance Board whenever in its judgment, the Board’s best interest would be served thereby,” the bylaws state. “This can be accomplished by a majority vote of those members present at a meeting duly called for that purpose.”
Before voting on the issue, Cata and her colleagues reviewed a two-page letter reportedly submitted by Jimenez’s wife, Desaree Jimenez.
The letter asked Cata and Cariños Chancellor Vernon Jaramillo to take into consideration the sacrifices, her husband has made for the sake of serving the Board and the school’s students.
“It truly saddens me for you to take this seemingly negative stance against someone who has fought so hard to keep Cariños viable against all odds, namely against the Española Valley School Board (EVPSB) (sic) and the PED (Public Education Department),” Desaree Jimenez wrote. “When EVPSPB had PED red tag our school, I didn’t see either of you spending the night at the school sleeping on the floor, eating takeout and standing up to those entities.”
Besides sleeping on the floor of the Charter School’s former headquarters, Desaree Jimenez said her husband’s commitment is evidenced by the countless hours he spent attending court hearings and meetings in hopes of securing the institution’s future.
She also chastised Jaramillo and Cata for siding with Somos Un Pueblo Unido, although the organization’s members aren’t involved with, nor has it offered any assistance to the school.
“Our school now has an F rating and rather than focusing on improving the school, you have chose (sic) to side with an organization that has never supported our school, some not even legal citizens, which disrespect the laws of this country, but yet they want to come in and dictate how to run the school and country,” Desaree Jimenez wrote in her husband’s defense. “I fully realize that these immigration issues are not black and white, nor should they be, as human beings are involved.”
Del Jimenez, in a Jan. 27 telephone interview, said he asked to have the meeting rescheduled because he had a prior engagement, but his request wasn’t honored.
He objected to the group’s presentation because it was political in nature and had nothing to do with the Charter School’s educational agenda.
Dr. Stan Sanders served with Cata and Del Jimenez on the Board for about three years, before stepping down.
He said the Board is making a huge mistake by getting rid of Del Jimenez, especially since he is the only person on the Board that understands the school’s budget and its fiduciary obligations.
“Del Jimenez is Cariños Charter School, and it would have gone away a few years ago,” Sanders said. “He is absolutely genius at finding error. Del is the only honest person on that Board — fiduciary-wise and morally.”
However, with the addition of Marquez, who also serves as the deputy treasurer for the State of New Mexico, Del Jimenez’s financial acumen may not be needed, if Marquez is utilized in that capacity.
Del Jimenez’s removal means the Board will have to find two new members to round out the five-person Board.
The Board tabled the acceptance of Tomas Garcia’s resignation letter until their February meeting, in hopes of convincing him to rescind it.