School board follows the law
Candidate withdraws name; Jackson tells board to obey the law

By Leslie Wood
Staff Writer

GALLUP — The Gallup-McKinley County school board complied with the Open Meetings Act on Monday by voting during its public meeting to narrow the field of finalists for the interim superintendent position from 12 to six candidates.

The vote was unanimous and interviews were subsequently scheduled with each candidate for July 30. Meanwhile, officials will also conduct background checks on the finalists who have been identified as Ester Macias, Michael Manor, Lester Hudson, Sharyl Allen and James Hennings. One of the six candidates removed him or herself from the running since the field was narrowed during a school board executive session that allegedly violated the Open Meetings Act.

The board decided to approve the six initial candidates during Monday's public session to rectify its actions during the closed meeting on July 2.

Bob Johnson, executive director for the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, said the board did not initially vote for the finalists in public as required by law, failed to list a reason for the executive session on its agenda and did not adequately explain why it went behind closed doors during the July 2 meeting. The Gallup Independent first brought the accusations of a state Open Meetings Act violation to light in a July 11 article.

However, the school district has yet to respond to a request from The Independent for the names of the initial 12 candidates, pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act.

Ester Macias, current interim superintendent, said she was not aware of the request and plans to followup with the district about the matter on Tuesday.

Pat Rogers, an attorney for the paper, said the law states the agency must respond to such a request in three business days. Potential responses could be the district needs more time to study the matter or the request can immediately be met.

During its Monday meeting, the board also voted to add a discussion item to the agenda; however, at least two members voted against the last-minute addition that was not posted on the initial agenda.

"We don't want to violate the Open Meetings Act again," board president Genevieve Jackson said.

The board briefly discussed a request from Thompson Johnson, president of the Indian Education Committee, to allow himself and Marjory Dodge, a Navajo Nation school board member, to participate in the interim superintendent interview panel. The board took no action on the matter.

Jackson also requested the board be more detailed in its agenda about the topics that are scheduled for discussion in private, executive sessions.

School board meetings are conducted monthly at the administrative office on Boardman Avenue at 6 p.m. The next public meeting is Aug. 20.