At the special Alamogordo Public School Board meeting on Feb 5, 2024, serious issues that had been willfully ignored are now being addressed. Legal counsel presented an extensive report implicating the APS administration for failing to implement prior district audit findings, continuing to execute Sole Source contracts contrary to New Mexico Statute, and detailing the district’s “own obligations” beyond ongoing work by The Office of State Auditor, Special Investigations Director, “with regard to” the DreamScape Learn procurement concerns. Our new School Board is shaping procedures and operations.
APS to Prepare Scope of Work for Outside Investigator(s)
· Procurement concerns
· Leave status of individual employee complaints
· Personnel issues related to Superintendent Renteria
· Supertendent Renteria’s response to complaints presented to her on Jan 11, 2024, and handling of additional complaints against her
· Complaints against Superintendent Renteria specific to Dreamscape
· Other complaint issues beyond Dreamscape
Additional Actions Taken by the School Board
· Individual parent complaints to be handled by Acting Superintendent Crabtree
· Superintendent Renteria to remain on Administrative Leave pending investigation.
· Approved Dreamscape’s offer to withdraw from its agreement with the district and board further resend the agreement.
· Required written notification to NM State Auditor of alleged violation of a criminal statute connected with financial affairs
DREAMSCAPE LEARN VIRTUAL REALITY SYSTEM
Attorney Gallegos discussed the purchase contract and the problems contained therein due to the withholding of legal review by APS before signing the contract.
The Dreamscape contract was posted as a Sole Source purchase signed by Marie Bouma and authorized by Collen Tagle. The purchase contract was signed on Nov 13, 2023. Shortly after the announcement, a complaint was filed with the NM State Auditor claiming improper purchasing procedures related to the Sole Source designation.
Present at the board meeting was APS attorney, Ms Gallegos, who spoke on additional issues with the contract. (1) It appears the contract did not undergo a review by APS Legal Counsel; instead, it was prepared entirely by Dreamscape’s legal counsel. (2) It appears the APS Administration was given notice that Dreamscape’s counsel would be present, but apparently, the administration chose not to have the APS counsel present.
This willful withholding of counsel by APS now revealed by the current legal counsel, Ms Gallegos, listed three legal problems with the contract: (1) The contract is governed by CA law, and includes items contrary to CA law. (2) Provisions in the contract are contrary to federal law. (3) The contract itself, including how it was procured, is contrary to NM law.
On December 28, 2023, Dreamscape emailed Superintendent Renteria and offered to withdraw the contract due to issues surrounding the Sole Source contract and the fact the community thought that VR was not the right solution for the schools. Dreamscape was willing to address any concerns surrounding the Dreamscape program developed in partnership with ASU.
Michael Shyne posted an email on Friday, Feb 2. Mr Shyne was informed by APS he must wait until the next opportunity due to his request being received after the deadline for meeting agenda changes.
SOLE SOURCE PROBLEMS
Ms Gallegos, the new APS attorney, discussed previous and current violations of Sole Source purchases – one from the 2020 audit and the current Dreamscape purchase.
Ms Gallegos addressed the School Board listing continued problems with the APS procurement process starting at the 5:01:42 time mark on the video APS Special Board Meeting February 5, 2024 – YouTube.
Concerning the Sole Source matter, Ms Gallegos stated the violations: “I think it’s important for the board to know that for the fiscal year ending June 30th, 2020 the Alamogordo Public Schools received an Audit Finding related to some of the very issues that are now before the board in connection with this particular contract, of course that was not Dreamscape, but the issues of procurement and the issues of procurement using Sole Source and the failure to have a legal counsel review the contract were the specific issues that resulted in the 2020 finding by your Auditors. It was categorized as a significant deficiency and other non-compliance criteria that were cited had to do with precisely the use of Sole Source procurement. The effect of the finding was that the district was in violation of NMSA 13-1 d126 having to do with Sole Source procurement with the possible result of the district not obtaining the best price or the best service.”
“The finding goes on to state that additionally without an independent legal sufficiency review by someone with proper training in contracts, a contract created by the vendor which is what appears to be present here as well, may not provide language that is in the best interest of the district. What is stated again, I’m reading from that finding, that the CPO made a Sole Source determination that did not meet the prerequisite of a Sole Source procurement. The recommendation by the auditor was that we recommend that the procurement of all contracts follow the District’s procurement policy. Additionally, prior to execution of the contracts, we recommend all professional service contracts go through a centralized formal legal sufficiency review to ensure the contracts are in the district’s best interest and meet State statutes.”
“At the time, as all of you know as members of the board and I know that Vice President Murphy served on the Audit Committee for a number of years. I know that you all know that when there are audit findings then management, meaning the administration, must do a formal response with corrective action. At that time the corrective action statement, management response, was that ‘APS is always focused on full transparency and adherence to both the letter and spirit of procurement statutes. Going forward, we will adopt the recommendation arising from this Audit Finding and employ a different type of procurement for Grant Programs.’ Here we are, fast forward to today, facing some of these very same issues again for the reasons that I’ve just stated.”
“Concerns regarding the Dreamscape Sole Source contract were reported to the Office of the State Auditor on November 27th, 2023. The Office of the State Auditor, Special Investigations Director, wrote a letter to then Board President Rabon and Superintendent Renteria asking for information and connection with a Sole Source award. Under the Office of the State Auditor fact finding Authority a timely response was submitted by Superintendent Renteria on December 15, 2023. That fact-finding by the Office of the State Auditor is still underway.”
“In regard to the district’s obligation about procurement concerns, the Acting Superintendent has asked me to file a Section 12- 6-6 report to the Office of the State Auditor on behalf of the district. Under New Mexico Statutes annotated Section 12-6-6 requires the school district to provide written notification to the state auditor immediately upon discovery of any alleged violation of a criminal statute in connection with financial affairs. The written notification will be prepared this week. Acting Superintendent Crabtree has concluded that the procurement concerns warrant an investigation by The District.”
When problems in the Alamogordo Public Schools are willfully ignored by our elected School Board members and the lack of involvement and questioning by all of us, this is the destruction and possible corruption of our local education system. The cries of the community were often ignored by those in power who were protecting their power for an agenda. It is incumbent on each of us to keep exposing the mistreatment of parents, students, educators, and employees. They tried to silence everyone with threats, lies, and intimidation until the community and work environment became toxic and hostile. Is it worth sacrificing one’s character to operate in a rogue manner to achieve the glory so coveted by the ones at the top? Is it worth destroying people’s lives to accomplish personal desires? Is it worth ignoring the very community served to be lauded with false respect? Friends, this is what happens when people are elected or put in a position because they are “nice.” We all, children, parents, teachers, and the community suffer the consequences.
The newly elected School Board members are taking their jobs seriously to restore what was tossed aside by others who had been trusted. This is what is called ACTION – not words slipped from the mouths of those pretending to be watchful and caring about our education system. We can be proud of the courage and integrity of our new School Board. Keep watching them. This is a bold and necessary beginning to restoring those harmed by those with no care and a lack of ethics and moral character to ensure that policies and procedures are followed to generate an operating environment of fairness and legal compliance.
If you see the School Board members in the community, thank them. What they have begun is bold, brave, and very much needed to correct the many problems!
