It’s been a bit of a revolving-door situation for the Mesa Vista School District since Jan. 31, when the School Board voted 3-1, to put then-superintendent Ernesto Valdez on administrative leave.
Board President Marvyn Jaramillo, Vice President Moises Peña and Board Member Keisha Maestas voted in favor of putting him on leave, while Board Member Andy Lopez voted against and Board Member John Garcia left before he was able to cast a vote.
The next day, Feb. 1, the Board named Mesa Vista Middle and High School Principal Brian Henderson as acting superintendent, as he was the second in command, per Valdez’s chain of command organizational chart.
On Feb. 7, during a special meeting, Maestas made a motion to appoint El Rito Principal Elaine Romero as interim superintendent. Peña seconded the motion and it carried, 4-0.
Jaramillo said via email, all District administrators were considered for the position, however, the majority of the Board voted in favor, after executive session, of appointing Romero.
Qualifications
Romero has been with the district for one year. Jaramillo said via email, she is the Pre-K director, bilingual education director and director of four state grants — Elementary Arts, Reads-to-Lead, RDA (Results Driven Accountability) and SIG (School Improvement Grant).
Before coming to Mesa Vista, she was an instruction coach in instructional leadership and had other assistant principal responsibilities, from 2014 to 2017, at Matheson Park Elementary School, in Albuquerque.
In 2014, she worked at Wherry Elementary School, in Albuquerque, as an instruction coach in instructional leadership and also had assistant principal responsibilities.
From 2003 to 2009, she was a teacher, literacy leader, goal team leader and after school tutoring program coordinator at Edmund G. Ross elementary, in Albuquerque.
Romero served as a writing teacher and multi-cultural Summer Honor Programs teacher from 2004 to 2011, at Laguna Elementary School, in Laguna, N.M.
From 2000 to 2002, she was a gifted program coordinator and teacher, though it’s not clear where.
She was a teacher, CSRD school reform coordinator and reading program facilitator from 1998-2000, at Seboyeta Elementary School, in Seboyeta, N.M.
From 1995-1996, she was a teacher at St. Joseph Catholic School in San Fidel, N.M.
When asked about her qualifications during a telephone interview, on Monday, Romero said she has eight years’ experience in instruction leadership and has had her administrator’s license for one year.
“I have 20 years (experience) in education and three years in education policy,” she said.
The process
Peña said in addition to Romero, Transportation/Athletics Director Robert Mata and Henderson were also considered for the interim superintendent position.
“She was the most experienced administrator,” he said. “She’s ambitious and she has the school’s best interest in her heart and mind.”
He pointed out her educational background and said she has a master’s degree in administration and is working on a doctorate.
However, not all Board members feel the same about Romero’s qualifications.
Board Member John Garcia said he did not cast a vote during the Feb. 7 meeting, because the Board took a vote after he excused himself to the restroom.
“They pulled a fast one on me,” he said. “While I went to the bathroom and came back, they had voted. I was gone for about three or four minutes.”
Had he been able to vote, he said he would have voted against appointing Romero to the position.
“It’s not because I have anything against Miss Romero,” he said. “I think she’s done a fine job as the principal in El Rito. She doesn’t have any experience at the superintendent level. We’re already in difficult times. Again, nothing personal against her, it’s just, it wasn’t fair to the Board to put her in that situation.”
Despite his feelings, Garcia said he will support Romero and believes her intentions are good.
“I believe her heart is probably in it,” he said. “I don’t think she has the experience to do it. I could be wrong. Maybe she’ll prove me wrong. It takes years and years to build that kind of experience and she doesn’t have it.”
Lopez agreed with Garcia. Despite voting in favor of appointing Romero to the position, he said with the few options with which the Board was presented, she was the least impacted by taking on the position.
“All the schools except the high school are failing,” he said. “The middle school is in the worst situation since the NMPED (New Mexico Public Education Department) is now giving the administration three years to turn it around or fire the entire teaching staff, create a charter school or transport those students to another higher scoring school. Mr. Henderson the middle and high school principal is responsible for putting the recovery program together and while he was probably the best qualified of the three we talked to, he was the smartest one and knowing he has his hands full, he declined the position if it was offered to him.”
Her vision
Romero said when she was offered the position, she was primarily concerned with leaving El Rito Elementary.
“Then I realized we have a very strong leadership team and great initiatives headed in the right direction,” she said. “I decided I could help out in a bigger way for Mesa Vista.”
She said she will help district staff at “all levels,” while staying focused on academic, social and the emotional needs of the students.
“I’ve always been dedicated to creating an engaging learning environment for children and a positive work place for adults,” she said.
She said at El Rito, there are instructional coaches in reading and math, working in classrooms and with individuals. They have used data to find any gaps in students’ learning and have begun to fill those gaps.
Romero pointed to her creation of a schedule, at no extra expense to the district, to provide music, art, physical education and library time, for every student, once a week, as one of the ways she’s creating an engaging learning environment.
She said she’s moved her office to the Mesa Vista District Office, but will maintain her El Rito Elementary office.
When asked whether she’d split her time between the school and the district office, she said she hasn’t decided.
“A lot can by done by telephone, Internet and email,” Romero said. “As a superintendent, it’s important to be in all your schools.”
Compensation
As interim superintendent, Romero will not receive a pay increase, and will instead keep her current pay rate, which Peña said was in the “mid-60s.”
“I don’t think that’s fair,” Garcia said regarding her pay rate. “I don’t think it’s right. They (the applicants) were all eager to please. They wanted to help. I think all three are good people and care about our school district and want to help, but the reality of it is, it’s a specialized job.”
He said without knowledge, the job will be hard to do.
“To do it at the pay rate they’re currently getting and to do it and their original duties at the same time, is going to be tough,” he said.
Though Lopez did not mention Romero’s current pay rate, he concurred with Garcia’s assessment of her not accomplishing much as interim superintendent.
“She would be lucky to get us through the end of the school year if Mr. Ernesto Valdez is not returned to active duty as superintendent,” he wrote. “She has a steep learning curve since this is her first time as an administrator, working in a public school district. She was hired as the principal of the El Rito Elementary School and this school has a (sic) F rating by the PED. I’m not positive that she will be able to improve the El Rito Elementary grading by being absent from the campus as she takes on the duties at the administrative central office Ojo Caliente.”
Changes
Since Valdez was put on leave, two staff members have resigned. Valdez’s secretary, Carmen Gallegos, submitted her letter of resignation following the vote to put Valdez on leave.
On Tuesday, Special Education Coordinator Juana Hernandez also resigned.
In addition, an anonymous caller to the Rio Grande SUN said a vacancy notice for Gallegos’s position was posted on the district website, then pulled down after the education qualifications were modified to allow those with a high school diploma, and not a college degree, to apply. However, the notice did say an associate’s degree is preferred.
Lopez and Garcia both confirmed that it was true.
“The feedback that I have gotten already is that she (Romero) is colluding with the majority (of the Board) to have a lesser qualified staff appointed to a position that was recently vacated as a political favor to this individual for having helped in circulating a petition against Mr. John Garcia,” Lopez wrote.
Garcia said the vacancy notice was taped to a window at the administration office before being taken down and a new one put up.
Financial woes
Peña and Jaramillo have said Valdez will remain on administrative leave until further notice. His contract expires in June.
However, Lopez and Garcia stressed the fact that the district doesn’t have extra money to pay another superintendent and have Valdez on leave, as well.
Lopez wrote that on Monday, the district administrators submitted a request to the Public Education Department for $341,000 in emergency funding.
“Our options are very limited since we cannot pay another person to serve in the capacity of superintendent while Mr. Valdez is on paid administrative leave,” he wrote.