{"id":967,"date":"2006-12-07T16:42:00","date_gmt":"2006-12-07T22:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/12\/lulac-defends-fired-lcps-superintendent-diaz\/"},"modified":"2006-12-07T16:42:00","modified_gmt":"2006-12-07T22:42:00","slug":"lulac-defends-fired-lcps-superintendent-diaz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/12\/lulac-defends-fired-lcps-superintendent-diaz\/","title":{"rendered":"LULAC defends fired LCPS Superintendent Diaz"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The League of United Latin American Citizens has filed a complaint with the Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> school board over its recent firing of Sonia Diaz from her job as superintendent. <\/p>\n

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

The group, in a three-page letter<\/a> delivered Wednesday, says there is \u201cremarkable support for Dr. Diaz in the Latino community.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cIn the past, some administrators and staff have made this community feel inferior and insignificant. Their concerns and issues have either been swept under the rug or have fallen by the wayside,\u201d the letter states. \u201cDr. Diaz has been inspirational in reaching out to this community and is supportive of programs targeted to improve public instruction not only for migrant children, but for all students within the school district.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

The letter, which is signed by New Mexico LULAC Director Paul Martinez and Phillip Archuleta, chair of the Civil Rights Commission, asks the board to reinstate Diaz and place her on a growth plan, and also to address the group\u2019s concerns at its next meeting.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThe perception of many Latinos is that several members of the Las Cruces school board treat Latino issues indifferently and are insensitive to our community,\u201d the letter states.<\/p>\n

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

Leonel Brise\u00f1o, the only Hispanic member of the school board, said he did not want to comment because he had not seen the LULAC letter.<\/p>\n

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

District spokeswoman Jo Galvan said the school board \u201cis committed to ensuring a good job of educating all students, regardless of nationality or ethnicity.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Diaz is formally appealing her termination after board members unanimously voted to remove her last month. The board will set a hearing for, most likely, sometime in January.<\/p>\n

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

In the letter, LULAC complains that Diaz and her attorney say there is no basis for her firing, that she was not given the opportunity to defend herself and that she was not given the reasoning behind the board\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

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

Galvan said that\u2019s not true, saying the board\u2019s attorney interviewed Diaz about the allegations against her. She also said the board sent Diaz \u201can extensive list of reasons for her dismissal.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Galvan pointed out that, though the board can\u2019t legally disclose the reasons for Diaz\u2019s firing, Diaz could do so, if she wanted them known publicly.<\/p>\n

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

Martinez<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> acknowledged that he doesn\u2019t know all the facts.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cWe\u2019re very concerned because we don\u2019t see any foundation for the dismissal,\u201d he said. \u201cMaybe they know more than we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Board members have repeatedly said they do know more than they can share publicly, and have said the problems with Diaz were grave enough to warrant termination.<\/p>\n

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

But, the LULAC letter states, Diaz has not been given the opportunity to correct any problems that existed.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThis would have been the prudent thing to do. It would have demonstrated good faith on the board\u2019s part,\u201d the letter states.<\/p>\n

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

The letter brings up the fact that many complaints about Diaz have to do with her \u201capproach and demeanor,\u201d and suggested that, if that is the case, she could hold labor management meetings to resolve conflicts with staff members.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cWe recognize that her management style is a no-nonsense approach,\u201d the letter states. \u201cIs that a fault or an attribute?\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Diaz praised LULAC as an organization \u201cwith a long history and certainly a legacy of supporting Latinos and Hispanics in the United States<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThey\u2019re just concerned with doing the right thing,\u201d Diaz said. \u201cI\u2019m just grateful they\u2019re supporting me.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The League of United Latin American Citizens has filed a complaint with the Las Cruces school board over its recent firing of Sonia Diaz from her job as superintendent. The group, in a three-page letter delivered Wednesday, says there is \u201cremarkable support for Dr. Diaz in the Latino community.\u201d \u201cIn the past, some administrators and […]<\/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-967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/967","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=967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/967\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}