Chama Valley Superintendent Anthony Casados is on paid administrative leave following a Feb. 17 vote by the Chama Valley School Board to investigate him and itself.
An agenda for the special executive session meeting, which lasted for a little more than seven hours, cites complaints against Casados and his performance.
Anthony Casados is the father of teacher and coach Carlos Casados, who is also on leave from the same school district, following anonymous allegations of inappropriate conduct with a student that were found to be unfounded by the Children Youth and Families Department and the Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Office.
Carlos Casados was cleared by law enforcement of any wrongdoing, including an investigation in which a detective looked through the phone of the student that the anonymous complaint alleged to be the victim. Community members complained about him at a school board meeting and shortly after, he was placed on leave, which he said was for his own protection.
According to the agenda for the special meeting on Feb. 17, board members discussed:
• A lawsuit the district is considering filing
• Complaints against the superintendent
• Employee investigations
• “Board/Superintendent relations and Superintendent performance”
The board voted to hire an outside investigator to investigate claims made against the superintendent, although what those claims are remains a mystery. The motion passed.
The board appointed Ira Harge as the acting superintendent.
The board came out of executive session twice, to vote.
The investigation comes after the legislature passed a bill earlier this month to provide more oversight over virtual schools and deal with funding shortages.
The bill passed after 3,000 students enrolled in online-only schools moved to the Chama and Santa Rosa school districts from the Gallup-McKinley County Schools, according to media reports.
Santa Rosa and Chama both took about 1,500 students after Gallup-McKinley terminated its contract with the company Stride K12 early.