{"id":851,"date":"2006-11-08T16:11:00","date_gmt":"2006-11-08T22:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/11\/board-member-allegations-against-diaz-must-be-probed-leave-not-indicative-of-lack-of-confidence\/"},"modified":"2006-11-08T16:11:00","modified_gmt":"2006-11-08T22:11:00","slug":"board-member-allegations-against-diaz-must-be-probed-leave-not-indicative-of-lack-of-confidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/11\/board-member-allegations-against-diaz-must-be-probed-leave-not-indicative-of-lack-of-confidence\/","title":{"rendered":"Board member: Allegations against Diaz must be probed; leave not indicative of lack of confidence"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Las Cruces Public Schools Superintendent Sonia Diaz was placed on administrative leave so the board could investigate allegations raised by staff, not because the board is unhappy with what she is trying to accomplish, the board says. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Board Member Leonel Brise\u00f1o, speaking for the school board, made the comments during a news conference this afternoon. He said the vote to place Diaz on paid, administrative leave was unanimous and taken in an open session.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cLet me be clear: This does not reflect a lack of confidence in our superintendent\u2019s performance. Dr. Diaz was selected for her passion, for the education of all children, her extensive background in curriculum and her ability to communicate with various segments of our community,\u201d Brise\u00f1o said. \u201cThe placement of an employee on administrative leave with pay is a standard procedure used when concerns are raised.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Brise\u00f1o was the only board member to attend the news conference.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The board has tentatively scheduled a closed meeting at 1 p.m. on Tuesday \u201cto complete the process.\u201d Brise\u00f1o said he hopes to resolve the issue then, and said Diaz will remain on leave until at least that meeting.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

He would not go into specifics about the allegations, but said he and most board members did not know of the allegations until they were brought by staff, through one board member, to the board at Tuesday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Some district employees have said they feel intimidated and degraded by Diaz, who has replaced several top administrators since taking the job four months ago.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a shock to me, and I feel it was a shock to (Diaz),\u201d Brise\u00f1o said, adding that the next steps will be \u201cgetting more information about the concerns and then providing Dr. Diaz with a chance to respond to the concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

He said it is too early in the investigation to know whether the allegations are true.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The board also named Elizabeth Marrufo, the district\u2019s director of elementary education, as the administrator in charge during Diaz\u2019s absence, though she has not been granted the title of interim or acting superintendent.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to keep everything as stable as possible,\u201d Marrufo said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Brise\u00f1o said the intent is to better the schools, not destabilize them.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing I must point out, and I told this to the administration\u2019s leadership earlier today: This school board hired Dr. Diaz with the intention of making improvements in our district that would improve academic achievement for all children,\u201d Brise\u00f1o said. \u201cWe understand that with any change there are challenges and growing pains that must be addressed in the process of change.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In response to the news that some legislators want the state to take control of the Las Cruces schools because of their belief that the board is mismanaging the situation, Brise\u00f1o they have the right to attempt that.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re lucky to live in a country where we have checks and balances, and I support their ability to do that,\u201d he said, while cautioning legislators to \u201cbe careful\u201d since they don\u2019t and can\u2019t know much about the allegations because they are a personnel issue.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have done nothing wrong,\u201d Brise\u00f1o said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

As for the possibility of takeover, the only section I can find in state law that addresses it states that \u201cmoney budgeted by a school district shall be spent first to attain and maintain the requirements for a school district as prescribed by law and by standards and rules as prescribed by the department.\u201d If that\u2019s not happening, the state superintendent has to give notice to the local board.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The board then has 30 days to comply with requirements stated or submit a satisfactory plan for improvement. If that doesn\u2019t happen,, the secretary, after consultation with the Public Education Commission (of which LCPS Board Member Gene Gant becomes a member on Jan. 1), can suspend the local board and act for it.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

School boards can appeal such decisions by the state superintendent of education to district court.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

There\u2019s another interesting angle to what\u2019s going on here. Board members Sharon Wooden and John Schwebke are up for re-election in February. Candidates have to declare in December if they\u2019re going to run.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

No matter what the board does next, it seems likely either the legislators or those who want Diaz out will seek candidates to run against both members.<\/o:p><\/span> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Las Cruces Public Schools Superintendent Sonia Diaz was placed on administrative leave so the board could investigate allegations raised by staff, not because the board is unhappy with what she is trying to accomplish, the board says. Board Member Leonel Brise\u00f1o, speaking for the school board, made the comments during a news conference this afternoon. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}