Española School District officials’ failure to comply with the state’s Inspection of Public Records Act will cost taxpayers $47,500 to settle a lawsuit brought by the Rio Grande SUN, Sports Writer Andrew Martinez and former reporter Ariel Carmona Jr.
Española’s School Board agreed, Sept. 19, to pay the SUN $47,500 to cover penalties, attorneys fees and court costs the newspaper accrued, resulting from the District’s failure to release documents sought via the Act.
As part of the Sept. 13 settlement the parties reached, the District also agreed to release seven sets of documents the school’s record custodian, Crystal Garcia and Associate Superintendent Myra Martinez originally withheld.
The agreement officially brought to an end the suit, filed June 9, by Matthew Hoyt, the SUN’s attorney. He alleged the District failed to supply documentation, as requested, regarding the termination of two District employees — basketball coach Richard Martinez and former finance director Jeanette Trujillo.
The case was set to go to trial Jan. 3, 2017, before District Court Judge Francis Mathew.
School Board President Pablo Lujan said he and his colleagues authorized the settlement as the first step in bolstering the District’s ability to handle public records requests.
“The Board approved the settlement agreement because the District’s process of receiving and responding to public records requests needed improvement,” Lujan wrote in a prepared statement. “It is important to increase transparency in the District so that the community can better understand the educational and operational decisions being made by the Board and administration.”
The seven documents, of which the settlement facilitated the release, included an April 11 letter from Richard Martinez, seeking to learn why he was fired and to ask for a hearing to protest that dismissal.
The District granted Martinez a hearing that ended in a settlement, which allowed him to keep his job as a teacher and coach. He is currently working in the superintendent’s office doing miscellaneous duties until the Public Education Department convenes a licensure hearing to determine if he is able to keep his teaching certification. The parties have not agreed on a date for a hearing.
The remaining documents the District had to release pertained to Trujillo’s on-the-job performance and termination.
Among those documents, was a letter former District superintendent Bobbie Gutierrez, sent to Trujillo, placing her on paid administrative leave, ahead of her subsequent termination. The other four documents were the results of several evaluations Trujillo underwent since 2011.
SUN Publisher Robert Trapp said the victory was hollow, as it cost the District and students a lot of money and could have been avoided.
“At the end of mediation, Matt (Hoyt) and I looked at each other and I said, ‘Isn’t this what we were trying to get before we even filed suit?’” Trapp said. “We got exactly what we asked for back in April and May. This superintendent and the majority of the Board were fighting this just because they could. I don’t think anyone learned anything from this experience.”
Superintendent Eric Martinez said he sees the settlement agreement as a learning experience and is working to correct the District’s public records deficiencies. He also spoke from a prepared statement.
“As superintendent, I have made it a priority to modernize and improve all District practices, including compliance with transparency laws such as New Mexico’s Inspection of Public Records Act and Opens Meetings Acts (sic),” he said.
The agreement allowed District officials to redact information they believed to be matters of opinion. Granting District officials and their attorney discretion to redact information they believed falls under the “matter of opinion” exemption could have extended the court skirmish because the agreement also authorized the SUN’s publisher and his attorney to seek the court’s intervention if they weren’t satisfied with the documents as presented. They allowed the redactions.
“There were two that had highly suspect redactions, but they weren’t the documents you want to end up in front of an appeals court with,” Trapp said. “When you’re trying to strengthen the records Act, you want to go in front of an appellate judge with a clear winner that will help the public gain more access to their government. These redactions might not have gone our way at the Court of Appeals.”
The SUN is now seeking the District’s legal costs in the matter. The completely redacted invoices will be the next battle. Once those invoices are released, with proper redactions, the cost to District taxpayers could be well over $100,000.