Controversial educator and coach Richard Martinez will never again teach a class or coach a game as an Española School District employee.
Martinez agreed, Monday, to give up his coaching license for an undetermined amount of time, and his teaching license for one year, in accordance with a deal he reached with Public Education Department officials.
The agreement settles the 24-count Contemplated Action Complaint Department officials filed, in August 2016, accusing him of abusive treatment of students, ineffective supervision, insubordination, intimidation and financial misconduct.
Victoria Amada, the Department’s chief administrative prosecutor told the District her office reached the agreement to spare witnesses from reliving their interaction with the coach.
“A hearing on the merits in this case would have lasted up to a month and greatly taxed the emotional equilibrium of many of the Department’s witnesses, several of who either are minors or recently reached the age of majority (sic),” she wrote in the letter she sent to acting superintendent Denise Johnston. “We obtained solid guarantees that we believe will protect the Española Public Schools community, and serve to safeguard other school communities in New Mexico.”
According to the 47-page complaint that preceded Monday’s settlement agreement, Martinez berated gay, black, Native American and disabled students with racial and insensitive comments designed to embarrass or ostracize the students. The complaint also accused Martinez of encouraging students to fight for a position on the high school’s varsity roster.
The bullying didn’t stop with the students, according to the complaint, and extended to his co-workers and parents.
Martinez said in a Tuesday telephone interview, that although the decision separates him from both a profession and career that he has spent a lifetime cultivating, he is optimistic that he’ll return to the classroom and sidelines some day.
“It was unfortunate it went the way it did, but we will go from here,” he said. “I have no criminal charges and my evaluations were good.”
The former coach points to the noted achievements of the basketball program and its students, as examples of his success as an educator and a coach.
“My kids were doing good,” Martinez said. “I think they were well prepared and confident.”
Under his approximately 14-year tenure, the Sundevils went to the state championship three times and won twice.
One of Martinez’s most ardent supporters, School Board Member Pablo Lujan, said the outcome pleases him, considering he believes the coach was unfairly targeted for political reasons.
He said if the events truly unfolded the way Department officials portrayed them, Martinez would have endured far harsher penalties.
“I think it is a win-win situation,” Lujan said during a Tuesday telephone call. “I think it was a sad case of the PED (Public Education Department) bullying the District. If the case was that serious, why didn’t they permanently pull his licenses?”
Board President Ruben Archuleta said he supports the Department’s decision and believes it was necessary to set the District back on the right course.
“With NMPED’s (New Mexico Public Education Department) decision, Española Public Schools and the community can begin to heal old wounds and return our focus to educating students,” he said. “In sports or in the classroom, our students deserve a safe and positive learning environment.”
Martinez was placed on paid administrative leave shortly after it became public he was performing various tasks in the superintendent’s office, while on suspension from teaching and coaching.
He continued to receive his $48,000 teaching salary and $6,000 coaching stipend for a total of $54,000 per year, despite not having taught a class or coached a basketball game the entire 2016-2017 school year.
According to the terms of the agreement, Martinez will continue to receive that salary until June 30, when his suspension takes effect.
He can apply to have his teaching license reinstated once his suspension expires in June 2018. If the Department reinstates his license, he will have to serve one year of probation. Whether he gets his coaching license back is solely at the discretion of the state’s licensure officials.
Now that the Martinez licensure issues are settled, District officials and lawyers can focus on defending the case filed by a group of parents and students seeking redress for the coach’s on- and off-the-court behavior.
The case, which is now in federal court, accused Martinez and his brother, Eric Martinez, of retaliation, intimidation and battery. Both, the Española School District and former superintendent Eric Martinez (no relation), were named in the suit.
The three students, only identified by their initials L.R., G.S. and L.H., along with parents, Darrel and Christine Roybal, Jose Serrano, and Rick and Cinderella Herrera, all testified against Richard Martinez during the Public Education Department’s inquiry into his alleged bad behavior in June 2016.
According to state statute, the defendants face a maximum penalty of $400,000 if they are found guilty in state court. That maximum penalty does not apply in federal court, where there is no cap.