Troubles at Alma d'Arte (Part I)

          After a long public hearing, the New Mexico Public Education Commission accused the popular, art-centered charter school Alma d’arte of breach of contract, and placed it on an “Intervention Ladder” that could lead to closing the school, absent strong corrective action.

          Alma Chief Academic Officer Adam Amador told a student assembly that the PEC was “biased.” (He ignored my repeated calls seeking to discuss this.)

Commissioners were startled by the Governing Council’s superficiality and ignorance. When the GC president couldn’t identify Alma’s “test coordinator,” commissioners called that “alarming,” adding that each board meeting should include a report by the test coordinator and critical questioning by the GC.

The PEC’s letter reamed out the GC for inadequate reporting and “unsatisfactory performance” regarding: low academic proficiency rates, lack of growth in reading, and low graduation rates; and handling students with disabilities, students’ rights, staff credentialing, employee rights, and fiscal management.

            Alma has had years of poor administration, even embezzlement. It’s seen the Intervention Ladder before. An experienced educator got it somewhat back on track, as acting principal, but chose to remain retired. All agree the principal before Amador just wasn’t up to the job. And stopped doing it while still there. Then Amador’s hiring was controversial.

The GC not only seems unfamiliar or uncomfortable with some of its responsibilities and required procedures, but is somewhat insular, not very diverse, and short on folks with extensive experience or expertise in art or education. In an arts-focused school where many students and staff are LBGTQ, the GLC’spresident and immediate past-president, are highly active in a political party that has frequently disfavored or disapproved of unconventional genders or sexuality. Several incidents seemed to show that discomfort.

The PEC reamed out the GC for abandoning public input (which the GC immediately restored) and lacking an appropriate grievance procedure for parents and students. Those are particularly urgent when Dr. Amador has in various ways dismissed or driven out teachers, “involuntarily disenrolled” numerous students, banned from school grounds or threatened some parents, and even called the police. Even assuming all his actions were justified, or justifiable, they’ve caused a storm of pain and anger. A strong parents’ group has been so highly critical of recent actions, and of Amador, that there’s a non-violent (verbal) civil war ongoing. Absent a fair grievance procedure, naturally that makes public comment rather brutal for the GC.

The GC has experienced rapid turnover and reportedly hasn’t kept state authorities fully informed. The GC seems to have repeatedly violated best transparency practices and even the Open Meetings Act. Parents complain of a period when the website was down, and meetings weren’t announced sufficiently in advance; but, before and after that time, meeting notices appear highly defective. Unlike with most public bodies, neither the agendae nor the minutes, as posted, contain the contracts and policies to be discussed and decided. Documents say, “see attached,” with no attachment. Remarkably, I’m told that in recent memory GLC-members often received contracts on the meeting day – or not at all, without asking specially! The by-laws say they should receive such materials 72-hours in advance, as the public should. How could a parent or teacher comment meaningfully on the new “see attached” policy or evaluate an invisible, unattached contract?

Whether this is woeful ignorance or a complete disregard for state laws, it’s not effective administration of Alma for students. [Next week’s column looks deeper into Alma’s current situation.]

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[The above column appeared Sunday, 5May, 2024, in the Las Cruces Sun-News and on the newspaper's website and on KRWG’s website, under Local Viewpoints. A shortened and sharpened radio commentary version will air during the week on KRWG (90.1 FM) and on KTAL-LP (101.5 FM, streaming at www.lccommunityradio.org/).]

[This is a tough story to tell. It has involved lots of talking to people, attendance at Alma Governing Council meetings, and watching a couple of hours of a NM Public Education Commission meeting. (Listening to commissioners discuss Alma and other issues, I heard questions and comments that suggested commissioners knew the field and cared about educating kids and saving schools.) Two quotes that didn’t fit into the column’s word-limit: PEC Chair Patricia Gipson, who lives here in Las Cruces, stated to me, “This tugs at my heart strings because Alma d’Arte has been such an important part of our community.” Irene Oliver Lewis, who largely founded the school, didn’t take sides, but said “Alma is about looking for the good in everyone.”

Working on this has taken an emotional toll, too. Some people’s careers, and other’s education (or the education of their children) are being strongly affected. There’s even been a suicide by an Alma student, whose mother clearly holds Dr. Amador responsible. All that amounts to a lot of material to sift through, trying to be fair to all concerned, and exposure to a lot of deep feelings. Those feelings push a columnist to look deeper, trying to get it right.]

[Regarding the failure to provide contracts and other materials with the agendas for board meetings, a search of agendae and minutes on-line suggests that this problem has been corrected.]

[I don’t wish to exaggerate or to ignore the irony of Alma’s Governing Council being solidly Republican. The large representation of LGBTQ students and staff makes it relevant. In 2022, Board Chair Richelle Peugh-Swofford, Vice-President and immediate Past-President Kimberly Skaggs, and recently-departed board member Zeke Rodriguez all ran for the state legislature.

Peugh-Swofford’s husband, Martin Swofford, is also on the GC. That would sound somewhat odd, whatever their party. Every time Skaggs and her husband have cocktails with the Peugh-Swoffords, it could be an illegal meeting of a quorum. We hope they don’t discuss Alma.]

[I don’t know how these folks feel in their hearts about gay folks and trans folks. Skaggs strongly supported far-right former Congressperson Yvette Herrell, who warned us that gay marriage threatens the nuclear family “as we know it,” voted against a bipartisan bill to protect marriage equality, and signed onto seeking to impose an abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or to save the life of the pregnant woman.

Skaggs is so intent on moving New Mexico toward her views, that she’s run for the state legislature each of the last three elections, and in 2022 she supplied most of the campaign funding for conservative Las Cruces school board candidate Joseph Sousa. Sousa raised $5,400 in four donations, two of which, for $2,500 each, were from Skaggs and her company.. Other than Skaggs, Sousa received about $400 from two other donors. Skaggs has money and uses it to push policies unsympathetic to the lives of many Alma students. She has, of course, every right to do so.]

[I hope the foregoing is not unfair to Skaggs. I did try to talk with her about this.]