Since taking over the leadership of the Española School District less than six months ago, Superintendent Eric Martinez has attracted criticism for some of the decisions he has made.
Parents, teachers and community members have complained to all who would listen about Martinez’s questionable decisions, such as rehiring basketball coach Richard Martinez, despite a state investigation concluding the coach should not be in contact with students. Eric Martinez also shuffled four school principals midway through the first semester.
Those complaints didn’t fall on deaf ears. The New Mexico State Public Education Department Deputy Secretary of Finance and Operations Hipolito Aguilar sent Eric Martinez, on Nov. 17, a letter notifying him that he has a month to explain those decisions and create a corrective action plan or face disciplinary sanctions.
The plan will also detail how he aims to address the procurement, staffing and morale concerns that have plagued the District and a timeline for implementing whatever solutions he comes up with.
“This corrective action plan is due no later than 30 days from the date of this letter,” Aguilar wrote. “Failure to submit a plan that sufficiently addresses these issues in a manner detailed above will result in disciplinary action against you in your current role as superintendent, and could result in disciplinary action against your professional license.”
The coach
Specifically, Aguilar cited the hiring of unlicensed and unqualified instructors to teach Richard Martinez’s first period physical education classes in the coach’s absence.
“My office is in receipt of a number of complaints regarding your actions as the superintendent of Española Public Schools,” Aguilar wrote. “The Public Education Department (PED) has recently conducted an investigation of many of these complaints and it is clear that sufficient reasons exist to believe that the education process within the District has been severely impaired as a result of your failure to meet the requirements of law, standards and/or rules established by the state or New Mexico.”
Those standards, according to Aguilar, at the very least, include providing a safe environment conducive to learning. The District, under Eric Martinez’s watch, falls short of meeting those standards for myriad reasons, including the superintendent’s seemingly strong desire to retain the services of the embattled coach.
“There are concerns that you have helped create, or at the very least, tolerated an atmosphere of intimidation and bullying,” the deputy secretary wrote.
The Department criticized the superintendent for exercising poor judgment when he allowed Richard Martinez’s relatives and associates to be in contact with the students that spoke out against the coach’s propensity for name-calling and other alleged unacceptable antics.
According to Department officials, this has led to students being verbally harassed by the adult men.
Española Board President Pablo Lujan said contrary to what Department officials would like the public to believe, this has nothing to do with the coach.
“It has nothing to do with Richard,” he said. “It is about PED being a bully. This is about due process. If we don’t defend an employee, we are going to allow an entity to come in and bully our employees.”
Lujan said the superintendent reviewed the information and decided the allegations weren’t enough to take away the coach’s livelihood.
“The superintendent said it wasn’t enough for termination, so he brought him back to work,” he said. “Why haven’t they given him his due process and the hearing he deserves? Richard is still a District employee.”
Instruction
and financial chaos
Tom Graves was the Española Valley High School principal up until the Oct. 14 principal shuffle. However, he quit rather than take an assignment as the Hernandez Elementary School principal.
While serving as the high school’s top administrator, Graves vowed not to let Richard Martinez return to coaching, so he was pleased to learn the state was doing something to address some of the decisions Eric Martinez made.
“I think it is a good move,” Graves said via a Nov. 21 telephone conversation. “He doesn’t use good judgment and he is not looking out for the best interest of the kids.”
The shuffle has left the District down one administrator because Associate Superintendent Myra Martinez has assumed the day-to-day duties at Hernandez Elementary.
Issues relating to the coach weren’t the only reason the Department issued Eric Martinez the ultimatum.
They also admonished the superintendent for the District’s poor financial records. Although most of the financial issues surfaced before his time, the Board has approved several $4,999 contracts, which regulators believe are meant to circumvent the District’s procurement policy.
The policy requires Board approval for contracts of $5,000 and above. This means Board members are, for the most part, left in the dark on what companies or individuals the District hires.
Due to an inordinately high level of employee turnover, more District students are getting their education from unqualified substitutes, which presents a problem in itself, according to the letter.
But that problem is compounded when school officials fail to properly communicate information regarding the District’s ability to meet the students’ educational needs, in accordance with state law.
One of Eric Martinez’s chief critics, Board member Ruben Archuleta, asked the superintendent to use the letter as a catalyst for some much-needed introspection.
“Go home and look into the mirror and see what you have done to our community,” Archuleta said. “You have single-handedly dismantled our school District in the less than six months you have been here. We are a mess. You have torn our community apart. You should think about resigning and save us this hassle.”