LOS LUNAS â All five members of a local elected board have been indefinitely suspended from office by a state agency due to a litany of findings in its most recent audit.
The New Mexico Public Education Department announced Wednesday, May 26, all five members of the Los Lunas Schools Board of Education have been suspended.
âThe entire Los Lunas school board has been suspended due to credible evidence that certain members have persistently violated procurement and public access laws, the state Public School Code, and professional ethical standards,â according to a press release sent out by PED today.
In the press release, PED listed 16 categorized concerns and potential violations by the board, including:
Press Pool Photo
Associated Press
The Los Lunas school board has been suspended by the New Mexico Public Education Department over allegations that multiple board members violated ethical standards and procurement and public access laws.
State officials made the announcement Wednesday, saying that it first warned the board about violations in November and that training for board members followed in January and February.
Despite those efforts, the agency said certain unnamed board members persisted in engaging in improper conduct.
Board member Frank Otero said an email to The Associated Press that he wanted to assure people he was not among those accused of wrongdoing.
The New Mexico Public Education Department is weighing its options after learning its failure to meet a deadline to submit school funding data to the federal government could cost the state millions of dollars.
The PED s submission was three days late, federal officials say, and now the agency has asked the state treasurer to transfer more than $37.5 million from a state reserve fund by the end of the month to make distributions to local education agencies.
The shortfall at the state agency comes after the PED in March 2020 missed a deadline by which to submit a full application seeking U.S. Department of Education approval to take credit for federal Impact Aid in the state s formula for funding public schools.