After a little less than a year on the job, Superintendent Eric Martinez is on his way out as the Española School District’s top administrator.
The School Board, on Monday, voted 4-1, to enter into negotiations to buy out the remainder of Martinez’s two-year, $130,000 annual contract. He has already served the first year of the contract.
Board members reached the conclusion a little more than a month after they placed Martinez on paid administrative leave.
The embattled superintendent attracted criticism from parents and teachers immediately upon taking the superintendent’s job, after rehiring former basketball coach Richard Martinez. Richard Martinez was terminated for allegedly verbally and physically abusing his players, among other issues.
Eric Martinez also roused the public’s concern when he reassigned several principals two months into the school year. His actions didn’t go unnoticed by state regulators.
The Public Education Department issued Eric Martinez a letter of concern, in November 2016, notifying him that he had a month to explain those decisions and create a Corrective Action Plan or face disciplinary sanctions.
Instead of creating a Corrective Action Plan, the superintendent submitted a seven-page document, Dec. 17, 2016, explaining how the Department was wrong. Department officials then sent him a second letter of concern, Feb. 6, again demanding he draft a Corrective Action Plan in 30 days or face the possibility of losing his license.
He complied just before the 30 days was set to expire. This time, the Corrective Action Plan contained an outline for addressing the District’s issues. He submitted his letter two days after the Board placed him on paid administrative leave.
The same day Eric Martinez received the Nov. 17, 2016 letter of concern, the Department, citing several reasons, from contracts to lack of bank reconciliations, stripped the Board’s financial authority.
The Department isn’t the only agency that took interest in the District under Eric Martinez’s watch.
Investigators from the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office raided District offices looking for documents related to two contracts in which the Board entered.
One of the contracts was with Rio Arriba County Commissioner Barney Trujillo to provide marketing services and the other was with Joseph Torres to provide lobbying services.
The Attorney General’s Office also filed the second of two Inspection of Public Records lawsuits the District faced under Martinez’s tenure.
Lawyers with the Attorney General’s Office requested a stay in their inspection lawsuit. The other lawsuit, which was brought by the Rio Grande SUN, cost the District $86,000.
Board President Ruben Archuleta said he couldn’t go into detail about the superintendent’s pending separation with the District because it is a personnel matter, but he did say the upcoming buy-out is the best course of action.
“As a Board, it was a difficult decision because we could use the money in the classroom,” he said. “But after checking around and talking to different people and getting different opinions, this was probably the best option.”
Former Board president Pablo Lujan predicts the buy-out will cost the District about $140,000, which he believes would be better used in the classroom.
“I voted not to approve,” he said. “The Public Education Department must have found a well full of money, if they are approving this.”
He said the Department will go along with the buy-out because it lets them off the hook for having to take action against the superintendent.
“They want us to settle this so they won’t have to make a decision,” Lujan said. “So, of course they want to approve it.”
The former Board president said if he still had the gavel, he would do all he could to work things out with the superintendent, which he doesn’t think the current Board has done. It must be noted that Lujan hand-picked Eric Martinez for the job without doing a search or consulting with the Board before putting his contract up to vote during the May 31, 2016, meeting.
“I would try to work with every superintendent,” he said. “And if we come to a crossroad, we go our separate ways.”
Archuleta said he can’t comment on whether the Board attempted to work out a less costly solution with Eric Martinez.
“Our discussions with Mr. Martinez are confidential and no Board member is authorized to disclose the terms at this time,” he said.
After the vote to enter into negotiations with Eric Martinez, Lujan accused the Board of striking his comments regarding the potential political targeting of District employees sympathetic to Lujan and Eric Martinez.
During the discussion that followed the installation of the new Board, March 2, Lujan accused his colleagues of conspiring to get rid of athletic coordinator Eric Vigil, Transportation Director Sennie Quintana, Facilities Director Adán Cordova and any other employee who supported Eric Martinez or the former Board.
Lujan said his comments weren’t included because the Board doesn’t want the public to know they are conspiring to get rid of their political opponents.
“They don’t want the public to know what is being done behind closed doors with the puppet they have,” he said during a Tuesday telephone interview.
The Board will discuss the buy-out and any settlement agreement at the April 19 meeting.